Emily Hays Photos
Elm City Montessori fifth grader Jada Tucker (second from left): We are not dangerous.
Jada Tucker, age 11, wants African Americans to be seen as brave, not dangerous.
Yanalyse Rivas, age 11, wants Brown and Black people to have the same rights as white people.
Their messages, delivered in downtown Westville Thursday, echoed those of Black Lives Matter protests across the country. This time, those protesting were fourth through sixth graders, and they had the backing of their school, Elm City Montessori.
“I don’t want people to think that the teachers told us what to say. These are our original ideas. Any child would be appalled if they knew what was going on,” said sixth-grader Mary Winter-Szarabajka.
The protest took place on Thursday midday at the intersection of West Rock and Whalley avenues to protest the deaths of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant and others who have lost their lives at the hands of police officers.
About 40 Elm City Montessori School (ECMS) students filled the center of the street, which was blocked off to traffic. Another dozen parents, teachers and assistant teachers stood around the edges of the student protesters.
Elm City Montessori is a charter school within New Haven Public Schools.
Parents and teachers present mostly listened and watched. The students were the ones at the microphone, reading poetry and speaking about why the protest mattered to them.
Many students were emotional as they described the injustice of racial inequality and police brutality.
“Without Black people, we are nothing. Without Brown people, we are nothing. They should not be killed. They should have the full lives they wanted,” one student (pictured above) said.
(The student’s mother requested anonymity for her daughter.)
The student teared up at the end of her statement. Her words and tears prompted Jada Tucker to start crying too.
ECMS Anti-Bias, Anti-Racism Director Amelia Sherwood hugged Jada and whispered to her, “Your life matters, right? Your life matters.”
Jada Tucker.
Jada took the microphone later, despite her tears.
“I wanted to prove my point. I wanted to show that Black people aren’t always harmful. We are brave and strong,” Jada said.
Fifth grader Haviland Hawthorne reads her sister’s statement, while Hayden gets a hug.
Students cheered on those who spoke, and teachers stood ready to give hugs to those who were too scared.
Fifth grader Haviland Hawthorne ended up reading both her own statement and the statement of her fourth-grade sister, Hayden Hawthorne.
Hayden’s hands were trembling and she felt like she was going to throw up — from both nerves and being moved by others’ speeches.
“I was disappointed in myself that I didn’t read it. I was too afraid that no one would like it,” Hayden said afterwards.
“It was a good one,” her friend Aurora Irizarry Cardone chimed in.
Aurora knows New Haven’s Black Lives Matter leaders from attending protests with her father since she was little.
“Thanks. I wish I had been brave enough to read it,” Hayden said.
“You have marches for the rest of your life,” said ECMS Magnet Resource Teacher David Weinreb.
Longtime protest organizer Kerry Ellington took the microphone to call out names of those killed by police in Connecticut. The students repeated the names after her.
Black Lives Matter New Haven Co-Founder Ala Ochumare: You are amazing.
New Haven Black Lives Matter co-founder Ala Ochumare lauded the ECMS students.
“I will do whatever I can, so when you are ready to take over, you can hit the ground running,” Ochumare said. “Y’all are the dopest people.”
Anti-Bias, Anti-Racism Director Amelia Sherwood.
Sherwood and teacher Ramya Subramanian led chants and songs while in the center of Whalley Avenue and on the way back to their school building on Blake Street.
Subramanian said the ECMS teachers had been planning to organize a youth protest at some point modeled after the Children’s Crusade of 1963.
When police fatally shot Daunte Wright, ECMS was on spring break. The death weighed heavily on the teachers, who unpacked how they were feeling with one another before talking about the subject with their students.
The teachers decided to organize a protest with their students, to respond to the killings and to practice for the later event.
Sherwood has led ECMS through a wide range of anti-racism activities and trainings. Part of the process is that adults work through their feelings and information first before processing it with students.
Left to right: Haviland Hawthorne, 10, Hayden Hawthorne, 9, Mary Winter-Szarabajka, 11, and Aurora Irizarry Cardone, 11.
While teachers organized the protest, the energy came from the students.
“I think people my age should know about this, so they can protest,” Hayden said.
Hayden said the police who killed Toledo, Bryant and others should be imprisoned. She said she wants to build a society that is safer, where police brutality does not happen.
Elizabeth Laconi, 8: This is very important. Lately, a lot of officers are killing Black people for no good reason.
Hayden’s belief in the youth right to knowledge is why father Larry Laconi was excited to bring his children, 8‑year-old Elizabeth and 11-year-old James, to the protest.
“I want the kids to have this discussion be part of their lives. I didn’t have that. I knew about it but didn’t know how to name it at 11,” Laconi said.
After the protest, students chatted happily with one another and sipped warm cider.
Sixth graders Yanalyse Rivas (left) and Abigail Richards.
Sixth graders Yanalyse Rivas and Abigail Richards spoke seriously about how unfair it is that Black and Brown people don’t have the same rights as white people, that the police don’t treat them the same, and that any errors police make (like mistaking a gun for a taser) have irreparable consequences.
At the same time, they were joyful about spending class time on the topic.
“Preparing for this was so much fun,” Yanalyse said.
“We could have left school early. It felt nice to stay,” Abigail said.