An entirely peaceful protest was organized last Saturday with the rally point at the County Court House of Leesburg VA, infamous for the Confederate Soldier statue on its grounds. With Governor Northam’s recent announcement that the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond would be removed, it’s just a matter of time before Leesburg’s symbol of its harsh past will also be removed from its conspicuous placement on grounds meant to uphold justice and equality.
While Leesburg can certainly lay claim to Civil War history, Loudoun County’s demographics are more complex than that history might suggest. It is remarkably diverse in terms of cultural ethnicity: Members of racial minority groups make up over 40% of the population, and almost a quarter of the county’s residents were born outside the US (according to 2018 census data). Loudoun County is also one of the most affluent counties in the country: Its location--near DC and within the nation’s East-Coast tech corridor--provides an abundance of lucrative tech, defense, and federal jobs. But despite all its wealth, Loudoun County also has deep pockets of chronic poverty that cut across racial and class lines.
As such, Loudoun County’s protesters come from a community accustomed to grappling with issues of social, racial, and economic inequality and injustice. Just recently, amid local public outcry, a School Board member was stripped of his assignment on the Equity Task Force on Diversity, as well as his chairmanship of the Discipline Committee, for making public racist statements during a diversity training workshop. (Yes, that is the irony of Northern VA in a nutshell. Communities of “woke” families and allies along with leaders tainted with “Lost Cause” remnants of Southern history).
Moving forward, Michelle Thomas, the President of the Loudoun Chapter of NAACP, along with other organizers, announced a continuing series of Black Lives Matter protests throughout June. Each of these events would have a theme and educational focus. They would also involve youth leadership to best build community and strengthen roots.
[This] Sunday, the theme will be about equity in Loudoun County Public Schools.
Rallies will continue on June 14 with the theme “Juneteenth” in Ashburn, “fathers” in Sterling on June 21 and “voting” in South Riding on June 28. Route details and times are still being finalized.
Thomas said if anyone thinks the protesting, rioting and looting across the country is strictly because of Floyd’s death they are mistaken.
“Anybody thinks that this is related to the death of a single man has missed the last 400 years in America,” Thomas said. “This is a response to 400 years of white feet on black necks, and so being able to educate the public about the public atrocity, and also the profit atrocity perpetrated against African Americans in every city, in every locality, in every hamlet of this nation, it is the only way to responsibly and realistically confront what happened.”
For residents of Loudoun, Northern VA’s most northern county, this has meant the resurgence of grassroots demonstrators taking advantage of the reopening of VA to return to the essential work of protests and demonstrations practicing social-distancing in a COVID-19 world.
A protest last Tuesday organized by Algonkian District Democrats brought protesters to Route 7 in Sterling, about halfway between Leesburg and DC. This site at the Richland Business Center is known locally from years of recurring protests by Indivisible VA-10. and other groups.
One of the organizers made this observation:
It’s been a while since I last stood here with a hastily made poster, and a lot has changed. 2017 seems like an ancient history. Back then, we were getting 2-3 positive reactions from drivers for every negative one. Today, there were maybe a handful of middle fingers, but the support... support was overwhelming and enthusiastic. Never before have I heard strangers yelling “we love you”. And most unexpectedly, a lot of it came from people I would profile as Trump supporters - from older, burly white guys in pick up trucks. Four people joined us who were just driving by.
A vigil for George Floyd was held Wednesday, June 3 in Cascades, a suburban neighborhood 15 minutes east of Leesburg. The local business center has suffered the blight of closing chains and Mom and Pop retail stores from the economic downturn. Families have been in their homes with most of the education taking place online.
This group was made up largely of school-aged children and families. These families are parents of minority students or are friends of minorities. Many are in mixed marriages. They know--or have come to know-- the added layer of sensitivity and struggle that comes with this and other issues.
While it doesn’t take much to be appalled by the death of Mr. Floyd, families here know they want better for their children’s futures. Other adults also saw the connection between hoping for change and making sure voices were heard in the community and the national dialogue approaching the elections.
Julie Garrett attended the event with her husband and children. She wrote this brief summary in her Facebook post:
Vigil for George Floyd in Cascades. Hundreds showed up. Don’t be silent.
Take-away from the words shared tonight (paraphrased):
“Listen. Use your voice. Stay engaged. VOTE. This is a step. Keep stepping. Be prepared to keep fighting, for days, weeks, years and decades.”
Yesterday, an impromptu protest happened on Route 7 outside the Dulles Town Center mall, despite the powerful thunderstorm that blew through. The protesters partly through an interaction on a social media channel originally used to organize protests at Trump’s Golf Course were motivated by the number of upcoming Black Lives Matter protests scheduled throughout Virginia. Due to their schedules they would not be able to attend, but “they just had to get out and protest.”
Friday also included an impressive gathering in Winchester, in the northernmost part of Frederick County next to the westernmost part of Loudoun. Being more rural, there has often been more push back from Republicans living there. Like the rally in Leesburg, the strength of Winchester's representation is due to years of grassroots work at the local level, tireless community organizing, outreach, and trust-building with youth and younger voters. Organizers included Terrance Wilson, Haley Arnold (the Young Activists), and Tina Stevens-Culbreath from the I'm Just Me Movement.
Earlier today the largest Black Lives Matter March to date in this area took place largely in Algonkian regional park. It too was organized largely by Ocean Akinotcho and other area high school students. A sportsfield and community golf course bump up alongside the Trump DC Golf Course, where he was over Memorial Day weekend. At least a thousand peaceful marchers turned out to march and hear a series of speeches. Loudoun County Sheriffs Office assisted with traffic safety. The march concluded at a local Catholic church parking lot. (Read more about the event here.)
As a resident and worker in these communities, I have alternated between periods of amazement at my neighbors and citizens and dumbfounded by periods of silence or indifference. But I can also say we care deeply about how our children are being raised and want all of our children and their friends to flourish. We realize for that to happen we must accommodate diversity, while recognizing that so many families have different needs and obstacles.
This particular area was the first to get hit when Trump took office and attempted his Muslim Travel Ban. The community here sprang into action and weathered each relentless wave of immigrant rights and families in cages, healthcare defunding, unfair taxes, guns and school safety. These issues all have very real effects on our communities. Even if we don’t agree on policies, we’ve come to the unavoidable conclusion that we have to live with each other. The dialogue raised by Black Lives Matter has been part of shaping that change, especially with our youth and younger voters.
In a state where the Governor and Attorney General (both Democrats) weathered scandals of wearing blackface in their college days (yes, remember that) and having Trump in the White House, these times do not make explaining racism any easier. Nor does living in Virginia where American slavery began and where Civil War history runs deep. But it also means, you can’t escape it.
In the absence of a Truth and Reconciliation type committee, the tensions baked into our country continue to fester. So this week a number of neighborhoods and communities found a few words to share publicly to make part of their history: past, present, and future.
#Justice… #BlackLivesMatter. #Vote.