The student news site of Hunterdon Central Regional High School

Summer: a season of reflection and change

March 30, 2021

Photo+by+Sara+Beyer

Photo by Sara Beyer

Students Fight for BLM

With the increased attention of the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S, a protest in Flemington sparked attention to students

By Dylan Marra and Jacob Tulli

The death of George Floyd sparked awareness all across the United States for the Black Lives Matter Movement. Protests and marches were being held at major cities spreading through the country and BLM was gaining a lot of attention.

These massive protests were reported by many major news networks, but some of the most influential gatherings were held at smaller towns, including one in Flemington, NJ where students from the local high school Hunterdon Central Regional High School organized and planned the incredible event.

Held on the small town’s Main Street, hundreds of Flemington residents gathered to support BLM. People held self-made signs promoting their beliefs, speeches were given by students, and songs were sung to deliver hope for change in the future.

The protest, held on June 26th, raised lots of coronavirus concerns for locals who wanted to attend. Mary Woods, English teacher at Hunterdon Central shared her worries about the pandemic at the BLM protest in Flemington.

“I was worried about feeling safe in terms of the pandemic, and I ended up seeing a lot of demonstrations of humanity,” she said.

“There were all these demonstrations of humanity and kindness… and in a time of such darkness, frustration, and tension, seeing people rise to the occasion made me proud of my community”

— Ms. Mary Woods, English teacher

Being reluctant to attend the protest due to COVID, Mary Woods explains that she went anyway because her students were actively participating. “The driving force (in participating) was the fact that some of my students were not only participating but were running the event,” she says.

One of her students, Jordan Caldwell, organized this event and sang songs to make a difference.

“I used platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. I use my big following to speak not only about the protest but just speak about the causes that I love,” she said.

Jordan isn’t the first in her family to attend a protest. She has activism in her background.

“My mom was a big inspiration for the protest. She went to protests when she was younger,” Jordan said.

This was an act of pure kindness and hopefulness. Jordan wants to see a change, so she must do her best to be the change.

“I wanted to help bring unity to Flemington,” she said.

Ms. Woods also mentioned unity as the biggest takeaway she experienced from the BLM protests in Flemington.

“There were all these demonstrations of humanity and kindness… and in a time of such darkness, frustration, and tension, seeing people rise to the occasion made me proud of my community,” she said.

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