In the wake of George Floyd’s death, Franklin residents came out in droves to show support for black lives. Organizers are hoping to seize this momentum with continued learning through a community Facebook group and task force. Photos used courtesy of Joni Magee.

Community Support for Black Lives Ignites Ongoing Discussion & Learning

They knelt for nine minutes, people from all walks of life in Franklin, including even local police, to protest the brutal way George Floyd died literally under the knee of someone who represented law enforcement. All agreed that his life, and all black lives, matter.

Ariel Consolmagno, who was one of the organizers of the June 2nd Kneel for Nine event, along with Justin Bates, Joni Magee and Judi Perez, says, “It came together really quickly, actually. I had been at work over the weekend and I had seen a post on one of the Facebook groups about people doing a protest in Franklin peacefully with signs. Then another friend of mine had shared a Kneel for Nine event near her that was going on. I thought it was a really interesting, peaceful way to show our support, so I had posted about that event in the group and asked if there were any plans on doing that in Franklin. I just kind of jumped on it, made a Facebook event.”

Connecting with Bates, who had put together the smaller, earlier demonstration, Consolmagno also drew upon the experience of Magee, who has 40 years of experience in social justice activism, 26 in Franklin. 

“They kind of took it and ran with it and helped organize the speakers,” says Consolmagno. “We were expecting maybe 50 to 100. Even five people would have been great.” Over a thousand filled Franklin Town Common.

But the real work, say organizers, is just beginning. 

“What we want to be doing, as a group, we want to be moving forward,” says Consolmagno. “It’s not just this one event. We want to continue to educate people and move them to action.”

Arising from the show of community in response to national unrest about unequal treatment, Bates created a dedicated Facebook page, Franklin Area against Racism, to keep the discussion going and further the effort toward racial justice. As of the third week of June, the group had 1,480 members. 

Although he was encouraged by positive responses from town on the more general All About Franklin Facebook page, Bates says, “you’re (still) going to get the people filled with hate. I was personally hurt, which isn’t the point, but that’s just not what I wanted the purpose of the (protests) to be. I decided to put a Facebook page together, to really show Franklin residents care, and that this is just a positive step forward. People of Franklin have shown they’re willing to listen, and they’re willing to act.”

Bates acknowledges he has work to do, having grown up white in a non-diverse community of Franklin, but that this call to action, at this moment “is community driven. It’s very, very uncomfortable for a white person to recognize their privilege,” says Bates. They’ve lived their entire life thinking they may be equal with one another with black or brown or indigenous folks. It’s scary to be one person taking that step, but if you’re taking that step with 100 others or 1,000 others, or 2,000, when there’s that many people going forward, if you’re doing that together, I think it makes it so much more powerful and easier. We want to do this together.”

Educator Joni Magee, who has been doing the work of challenging racism and xenophobia in education, helped shape the structure of the event and the Facebook group. Magee, who has training in civic discourse and social justice, having worked with Franklin Kitchen Table Conversations and No Place for Hate, in Franklin, says that continued engagement and activism is essential if real change is going to happen.

“It’s one thing – to show up is fine, but how does it become transformational and transactional. How do you relate to folks? Do you still see them as others? We’re really thinking about anti-racism as black and white, but we really have to think about social justice – Latin, Asian, indigenous folks, brown, but our vigil was for black lives and black folks, because historically, our black brothers and sisters institutionally have been used and abused.”

Now that the momentum has begun, the Franklin group hopes to hold ongoing workshops and book discussions, with continued learning. The page will have anti-racist book clubs, weekly challenges and will post workshops for area residents.

“We’re going to have weekly challenges, too, so people can put into action whatever their reflections are,” says Magee. Weekly challenges might include reading an article and talking about it with friends, perhaps going outside one’s comfort zone, and the group will hold ongoing anti-racist book clubs. In June, it held three book workshops on the book White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo. 

Although she will continue as a member but not an administrator of the Franklin Area Against Racism Facebook page, Magee, who will also run three Zoom workshops on White Fragility on July 7th, 14th, and 21st, adds she is creating an Anti-Racism Task Force in Franklin.

“It will be called The Franklin Racial and Social Justice Task Force,” says Magee, who also serves as Affirmative Action and Community Outreach Co-Chair of the Franklin Democratic Town Committee. “(It is) really going to be looking at racial and social justice issues within the context of Franklin, and working to build a ‘be loved’ community.” 

To inquire about her book workshops this month or the task force, you can email [email protected].