The second of four planned protests organized by NAACP Loudoun took place Sunday, June 14. Protesters gathered in the Ashburn Village Shopping Center before marching just under a mile down Gloucester Parkway to the Loudoun School for Advanced Studies on Ashburn Road. Loudoun County Sheriffs closed off a portion of the parkway and intersections for the safety of the marchers. Although there had been tense interactions with counter-protesters over this same weekend elsewhere, this event, which included speakers and a call to action, was peaceful yet passionate.
The Loudoun Times-Mirror offered up only a brief description of the event with some photos. Wider coverage by Loudoun Now was given to another Black Lives Matter protest held the day before in Ashburn, organized by two area high school alumni. Even greater coverage was given to Jason Bursey, owner of nearby Parallel Wine Bistro. Images of a black “Drunk Wives Matter” T-shirt went viral on social media. He claimed they were just a parody shirt for fun, like other T-shirts he also sold. But many locals contend that his personal and business Facebook accounts contained off-color racist and sexist comments that he removed quickly once the story gained traction.
It’s unfortunate that greater coverage wasn’t given to the NAACP speeches on Sunday once the marchers reached their destination. Speakers included voices from the community and elected leaders at a historic African American landmark.
Before the protest began, marchers were given instructions not to engage any counter-protesters. Though the general feeling was that such encounters would be unlikely, marchers were made aware of armed counter-protesters the previous week, not to mention an actual cross-burning elsewhere in VA the previous day.
Juneteenth inspired Presentations
George Floyd’s murder was just two weeks ago. Like the gap in time between the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the news reaching the last state of Texas, reaction to the news is at different levels in different places. For some, the past is just the past and the desire is to get back to normal. But for many of us living in these COVID-19 times and those of us who have experienced systematic oppression, we experience things both as “it’s different this time” and “maybe this time is different.” For the moment, this time is different. At least JUNETEENTH is now a state holiday in VA.
The in-gathering at Loudoun School for Advanced Studies is no small matter for the Ashburn community. On the same site where we listened to speakers sits the restored historic Ashburn Colored School. It is one of the few colored schools to remain standing in Virginia. It operated through the Jim Crow era and fell into disuse once school integration came to pass.
There are still members in the surrounding community with memories of attending school here. In October 2016, it was targeted by vandals who defaced it with Nazi and white-power type graffiti. This only rallied community members to raise funds to help restore it along with help from members of the School for Advanced Studies. (Read more here).
One of the speakers also pointed out the house across the street to the marchers. This too is a historic landmark. This house sits on the plot where the first 100 free Black people owned land and built their homes in Loudoun County.
In that light, Michelle Thomas, President of NAACP Loudoun spoke. It was less than a week since her son died. He died just after the first of these marches in Leesburg where she last spoke. And she said honestly at that time she was so full of hope. She could feel something different this time. Although she knew there was still work ahead, she didn’t think—she allowed herself to think—that at least her son was safe. It wasn’t going to be her child who would be yet another name claimed by a system that seems to always fail in some way where Black lives matter.
Call to action
Phyllis Randall spoke and was straight to the point. “If you came to carry a sign and march…stay home.” We have real work to do. “Remember, it’s not a sprint it’s a marathon. It’s not a moment, it’s a movement. And you don’t want to miss the movement.” She went on to itemize some action steps to take:
- Are you registered and ready to vote? If not, registration tables were set and ready.
- Are you going to get involved locally by showing up to county and school board meetings? Will you contact your local officials?
- You could start by taking up the cause of having the confederate statue outside the Leesburg courthouse removed.
Others spoke including a younger woman. She talked about losing her childhood idealism of growing up in Northern VA when she had her first encounters with racism and prejudice at school and in public because she was Black. A college-aged white man talked about growing up in this area and being exposed to “red-neck” ways but making a conscious choice to be an ally to stand with and stand up for Black lives. Elected officials spoke like Ashburn Supervisor Mike Turner. He said he remembered the turmoil of 1968 and how heavy his heart was for the lack of change over 52 years. This period now reminded him of that same turmoil. But seeing how the community and nation rallied in the last two weeks since George Floyd’s death, his heart was also light.
Michelle Thomas brought the teach-in to a close reminding us again that we had gathered here and been educated and motivated to DO SOMETHING. Before the crowd dispersed to avail themselves of food trucks in the parking lot or to march back to Ashburn Village, she led the crowd in a series of call and response pledges. Whenever we encountered half-offerings of appeasement or distractions from the core issues of abuse of power fueled by racism we were to SHUT THAT DOWN! What do we say: SHUT THAT DOWN!
Oh yes, Michelle Thomas (who is also a pastor)
and Phyllis Randall took us to church Sunday.
[See Video from the end of the gathering here.]
Two more Marches to go, with miles and miles to go.