Police Chief John Schlittler said seven officers helped with crowd control at the Friday rally and applauded the students who organized the event. In an email to The Times on Monday, he called the rally, “respectful, professional and organized.”
“There have been no problems in Needham related to rallies, protests, or vigils. Organizers have done a great job planning and running events,” Schlittler said.
Needham residents stood, and drove, in solidarity with protesters in towns and cities around the country last week, holding two rallies in support of Black Lives Matter.
A protest on Wednesday featured residents driving decorated cars down Webster Street. They honked and yelled as they passed posters displaying the victims of police brutality such as George Floyd, Tamir Rice, and Breonna Taylor and others.
Masked and dressed in black, hundreds gathered at Memorial Field for a student organized Black Lives Matter protest on Friday. They marched from the field down Highland Avenue toward Town Hall, where organizers read a list of names for those killed in acts of police brutality and racially motivated crime. After, participants engaged in chants such as “I pledge to be anti-racist” and “Not one more.”
Both demonstrations included an eight minute and 46 second moment of silence to memorialize the death of George Floyd who was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when a white police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill.
Personal stories
Kai Dixon, Needham High School class of 2020, spoke at the rally on Friday and said he was 11 when he was stopped at a local Walgreens for suspected shoplifting — he said his father has not let him wear a hoodie in public since then.
Olu Ajayi described growing up and attending public schools in the predominantly white town and said teachers refused to learn how to say her full name — Oluwatoni –, and frequently assumed she was a member of the METCO program – a voluntary school program that enrolls Boston students in Needham and 30 other suburban school districts – when in fact she lived in Needham.
“There will always be Black kids like me growing up in Needham,” Ajayi said at the rally. “I want them to have the choice that I feel I didn’t. I want this town to meet their needs rather than allowing them to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.”
Online, several current and former Needham residents, including Jamal Brinson, Needham High School, class of 2008, have used a well-attended public Facebook page to report past racial incidents.
In a lengthy account posted to a group with with 12,000 followers, Brinson said he was 12, standing outside of a local bowling alley with friends when a white man in his 40s or 50s stared before lifting his arms while making noises like a monkey.
“A few years after that incident,” Brinson continued. “When I was maybe 14, I was sitting on my front lawn waiting for my friends who were supposed to stop by when I was approached by a police officer. They said someone had called them and reported a suspicious person. As in, one of my own neighbors had called the police on me.”
Brinson grew up in Needham and works for a real estate buyer and property management company in downtown Boston. The 30-year-old lives with his fiance, Maisie Webb, Needham High School, class of 2010. Reached for comment on Tuesday, Brinson explained why he felt it was important for him to add his voice and said his mother in law, a former Needham resident, encouraged him to share his post in the community forum.
“I have gone to a few of the protests here in Boston and I am hearing a lot of similar stories, and that is kind of what is starting to make me feel like I have experienced a lot of this and its not fair. Growing up I felt like I was beating the odds and the reason I felt like maybe I didn’t experience a lot of this stuff is because I felt like I had made it – I went to college and I was able to get a job,” Brinson said.
“In reality, everybody doesn’t have all of those opportunities,” he added.
Town data
About 15% of Needham residents identify with a race other than white, according to U.S. Census Bureau data — Asian residents account for 9% of the population and Black residents represent 3%. According to data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 77.5% of students enrolled in Needham schools are white; Asian students account for 8%; Hispanic and multi-racial students account for 10%; and Black students account for 3%.
Needham students give voice to discrimination revealed by audit
Like school districts everywhere, Needham has seen its share of racist incidents – in 16 months from 2017 to 2019, at least seven cases of racist graffiti were reported to police by administrators. Recent incidents involved a racial slur in a boys bathroom stall.
An equity and inclusion audit of Needham Public Schools completed in 2018 surveyed over 250 parents, community members, staff and students and was performed by consultant Christine Robinson. According to a March 2018 report, Needham Public School educators were reluctant to talk about race, ethnicity, LGBTQ status, religion and other cultural differences. At the same time, the audit found, more than half of student respondents reported being in an interaction where very inappropriate language was used, and teachers did nothing.
“During focus groups and interviews, nearly every parent of color, immigrant family, many English Language Learner (ELL) families, families of LGBTQ students, and all high school students reported numerous instances of discriminatory behavior that they perceived as deliberate,” the report says before listing examples of the reported instances.
Supporting change
Before last week’s rallies, demonstrations held in town included a vigil organized by the League of Women Voters of Needham, in conjunction with many religious institutions in the town, across from the Needham Library. Dozens of residents held signs and lined Central Avenue June 3 and again on June 14 to show their solidarity with the movement.
Trixie Ogbebor, NHS class of 2021, helped her sister organize the rally last Friday. She applauded the recent wave of civic action helping to shed light on racial issues in the town. She also stressed that more was needed to bring about meaningful change.
“I’ve seen people posting things and I don’t feel like it’s genuine enough and I want to see who’s going to show up, who’s going to stick up for us, who’s going to speak, who’s going to really be there for us as a community,” Ogbebor said to the Times. “I think that we’ve done really good, bringing the community together. There’s still a lot of people missing. I saw a couple of annoyed looks when we were marching down the street. So, there’s still so much we could do.”
Riding with his friends in a car painted with slogans for Black Lives Matter last Wednesday, Yussuf Lazzouni spoke to the magnitude of the problem during the socially distant vehicle protest event.
“We live in a system that is broken,” Lazzouni told The Times. “I suddenly feel like everything’s boiled over and I don’t want to rest until there’s some kind of change.”
Margie Cullen is a contributor to the Needham Times, her email is margiecullen@gmail.com. Wicked Local reporter, Trevor Ballantyne contributed to this report. Email him at tballantyne@wickedlocal.com