On February 19, Twinfield Student Voice Group will be having a ceremony to raise the Black Lives Matter Flag and would like to invite any and all community members to join us in showing our support for this effort. While we can't have a gathering to celebrate, the event can be viewed live with on YouTube. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
Livestream link: https://youtu.be/mtXSBjasaRA
Following is some background about the push to raise the BLM flag at Twinfield:
Over the past 6 months, members of the Twinfield Student Voice Group have been leading an effort to raise the Black Lives Matter flag at the school. This endeavor has been aimed at creating a space that is supportive of all students and sparks conversations around race and racism in the community. It is the beginning of a plan to educate students and discuss with them how our school and towns can make strides towards racial justice and equity. With the raising of this flag, we hope to reiterate our commitment to creating a space where students feel safe and show our support for the basic human rights allotted to all people.
To bring the effort to the school board students organized and facilitated discussions with their peers, faculty, and community members. These presentations were able to answer the many questions our peers had about race and racism, and dispel the many misconceptions about the Black Lives Matter movement. Additionally, through our conversations we were able to hear from students about their opinion on the raising of the flag, see how they viewed these issues in our state and our school, and gather enough information to show the student body's overwhelming support of the effort.
After months of preparation, a motion to raise the Black Lives Matter flag was brought to the school board, and passed unanimously on February 9th. The flag will be raised alongside the United States and Vermont flags after a ceremony scheduled for Friday, February 19th, and will serve as a symbol of Twinfield's commitment to racial justice. And while there is much more to do in the pursuit of equality, this action is the first step to creating a culture and community in which all people can live and learn safely.