Nora Grace-Flood photos
Mom Janina Tauro at Friday’s protest outside Rascals.
A toddler was barred from a gym preschool program for wearing a Black Lives Matter T‑shirt — leading roughly 50 adults and kids to return two days later in protest. All wearing shirts with the same message.
Those two incidents took place at Rascals Gym on Connolly Parkway in Hamden, which operates a morning program for preschoolers and their guardians.
The first event occurred on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., when 2‑year-old Zella arrived at the gym with her grandmother, ready to spend the morning with her friends while her parents were at work. It was Zella’s fourth day in the program.
According to a statement written by Janina Tauro, Zella’s mom, the owner of the playground, Angela Martin, approached the pair while they were signing in and said that Zella would have to change in order to enter the space.
The reason? Zella was wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt. Martin said that she does not allow “political messaging” in her gym.
Tauro’s mom turned around and drove Zella home. She told Tauro’s husband, Gary Beard Jr., about her experience. Beard immediately called Martin to express his opinion: “This was wrong. She’s a baby. She’s Black, and her life matters. Telling her not to wear it in order to participate feels like a target, feels personal, and it feels like a violation to our humanity as people of color,” he said.
Beard remembered Martin, who is white, replying: “BLM is a political organization. and we don’t want any part of it.”
Tauro, a clinical social worker, decided to stop by the program after work in hopes of having a conversation with Martin, whom she had never me.
Tauro said before she could introduce herself, Martin immediately began trying to explain the situation to her. “Everybody’s life matters,” she quoted her as saying. “Everyone is important… I don’t do politics and especially not in a space with children… I don’t follow any of these politics, but I know that I don’t allow MAGA or BLM in our space, because some people don’t feel safe when they see those things.”
Tauro said that she had come by Rascals to share the ways in which Martin’s behavior had made her and her family feel “unsafe,” but was overwhelmed by Martin’s response and ultimately walked away.
On Friday morning, Tauro returned to Rascals her husband, her kids, several bins of chalk, and around 60 community members, almost all of whom were white. They all wore Black Lives Matters T‑shirts.
As their children colored the parking lot with pink and blue flowers, hearts, and the words “Black Lives Matter,” Tauro led a chant with the crowd responding:
Black lives …
… matter!
No justice …
… no peace!”
“This is what community looks like!” Tauro concluded with a shout.
“This is what community looks like!” the crowd echoed.
With everyone’s focused attention, Tauro spoke about the incident.
“My family thought about this all day long. It completely disrupted our day,” she said.
“Our physical bodies felt threatened in our own community,” she said, motioning towards her husband and children.
“This is a collective problem. I want everyone to do better. I want everyone to go to work and say why they were late… to show up to school and say why their kids were late.”
She pointed to a sign that now appeared in Rascals’ window. It reads: “In this house, we believe Black Lives Matter; Women’s rights are human rights; No human is illegal; Science is real; Love is love; Kindness is everything.”
“This wasn’t here before,” she said. “But the sign is not enough. This is not the answer. I need you to actively talk about this every single day because that’s what I do,” she said to all of the white families surrounding her.
Nina Bender and Kevin Daly with kids Benji and Summer: We want everybody to feel safe, welcome and supported.
Nina Bender and Kevin Daly were among the protesters turned out on Friday.
They said that they had primarily had positive experiences at Rascals. They noted that unlike Tauro and her family, they’re white.
They attended Friday’s event to back Tauro after reading about the incident on Facebook. “In our community, we want everybody to feel safe, welcome and supported,” Bender said.
As Daly spoke, his child, Benji, became restless while holding up a Black Lives Matter sign. Benji’s mom gently reiterated why they were all there: To support Tauro’s family and make them feel cared for.
“It’s just like healthy eating habits,” Daly said: At first kids don’t really get why it all matters, but over time they understand that taking care of their community has to be a routine, everyday priority.
Democratic and Working Families Party at-large Legislative Council Candidate Laurie Sweet, left, at the protest: “I’m here as Janina’s friend, but if I was an elected official I’d still be here.”
Rev. Jack Perkins Davidson, senior pastor at Spring Glen Church: “We’re all capable of everyday racism. I still do and say racist things — it’s important for us to listen and to have conversations.”
Tauro looked around at all of the children, some of whom were Rascals regulars and others who attend different gyms and daycares around town. “I’m glad there are so many kids here,” she said. “This is what our future looks like.”
Zella watches as one of her parents’ friends takes a piece of chalk and begins to draw …
… then picks up a piece of chalk herself and passes it on.
Owner Angela Martin didn’t show up to the facility on Friday. She closed the gym for the day in advance of the protest. She declined to speak with this reporter, but sent an email that she said would be uploaded to Rascals’ website:
“Very early childhood is a special time when our children play together free of the knowledge of religious, racial, ethnic and social differences,” she wrote. “At Rascals Gym, I strive to protect that moment in time, in hopes that children will forge new friendships and grow to be empathetic, caring adults who see through these differences. To do this, I have long implemented a policy that all Rascals Gym participants and accompanying adults refrain from displaying actions, attire or speech that spark heavy, adult conversation.
“My actions of asking an adult to change a young child out of a Black Lives Matter shirt came from this protective place in my heart. As I am not a person of color, I did not initially see how this request, while well-intended, was hurtful, and in actuality, did not protect that special spark and charisma of a young child.”
Martin added, “I send my heartfelt apologies to the family I hurt, to the families of Rascals Gym, and to the greater community. My actions were insensitive and for this, I am sorry. As of today, I am changing our policy to not intervene in Rascals Gym families’ attire with social engagement or political messaging. My intent is to create a safe space where children are free to be themselves.
“Throughout our 37-year history Rascals has been a safe and welcoming space to a diversity of families and we will continue to be just that.”
Tauro described the event as “nonlinear” and “traumatic.” She said her family would not be returning to Rascals.