ROCKFORD, MI -- Students and teachers from Rockford Public Schools and others joined together Wednesday afternoon with a simple message: “Black Lives Matter.”
The student-led Black Lives Matter peaceful protest took place Wednesday, July 15, at North Rockford Middle School to raise awareness and continue momentum combating racial injustice.
Organizer Adele Peterson, a Rockford High School senior, said the demonstration is likely the first to take place in Rockford since the death of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
Despite his pleas for help, Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
“Our purpose is just to raise awareness and educate our community,” Peterson said. “I believe that Rockford, it can be isolated and it’s not very diverse, so raising our concerns peacefully and respectfully I believe it will be really enlightening for the Rockford community.”
Demonstrators worked with police and the school district for the event, which consisted of a demonstration along 10 Mile Road and diverse speakers talking about the importance of understanding white privilege and racial injustice in America.
Peterson said the demonstration isn’t just a one-off event, saying that she and others are working with Rockford Public Schools for more diverse speakers and topics at school events.
“We’re wanting to integrate this into our school system, into our programs,” she said. “We’ve been in contact with our superintendent and principal, and I think it would be really important to have some diverse speakers speaking at those (school assemblies) and sharing their thoughts and their experiences, especially to help people of color in our school system know that they’re not alone.”
The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest estimates show that only about 2.4 percent of Rockford’s 6,391 residents are Black, 4.8 percent are Hispanic and 95.1 percent are white.
Rockford High School science teacher Eric Pilko opened his speech at the demonstration by saying he is “incredibly proud of the students who worked to put this together.”
He was one of three teachers -- two full-time and one substitute -- from Rockford Public Schools that spoke beside their students.
As a science teacher, Pilko said he’s seen first-hand how the history of the subject is whitewashed, overlooking the works of Black people.
“Students of color in our classroom must see themselves reflected in our curriculum, and white students need to see the impact that Black lives have had on their world, because Black lives have contributed an enormous amount to our story,” he said, “and it is so important that our kids know who (those Black scientists and innovators) are.”
Pilko closed by echoing Peterson, saying the demonstration alone does not change racial injustice.
“There is work to do, the work of eradicating systemic racism,” he said. “This is the work the people of Rockford need to be continually engaged in. Your presence here is a start. The work I do in the classroom is a start. But the world changes for the better only through continued, sustained effort, through a determination that says, ‘This must end and we will not rest until it does.’”
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