Unite for Racial Justice

Our purpose is to stand up for racial justice, dismantle white supremacy and to end white silence. We will gather peacefully to observe 9 minutes of silence, in acknowledgment of the nine minutes of George Floyd’s life when his suffering was ignored. The event will be followed by a peaceful walk around Fowler Lake.

This event is in concert with the Week of Action to end white silence campaign by Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/.

We encourage everyone to make and carry a sign with the name of an individual who has died; we have compiled a non exhaustive list in a post in the Discussion tab of this event. Please comment on the list to share what name will be on your sign, so we can represent as many victims as possible. We also encourage you to make additional signs with the following hashtags: #EndWhiteSilence #BlackLivesMatter #EndWhiteSupremacy.

Action Items:

In addition to supporting this event, we encourage everyone to commit to at least one of the following:

1.) Join a racial justice organization, such as Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/ @showingupforracialjustice

2.) Donate to the George Floyd Memorial Fund (https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd) or a bail fund for anti-police brutality protestors (https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/nbfn-directory).

Event organizers will be following CDC guidelines for social distancing and we ask that event attendees do the same. We strongly encourage you to please wear a mask if you are able, and maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet.

Organizers will set out flags in the park prior to the event, at a distance of at least 6 feet apart, and will instruct attendees/households to stand by one flag during the nine minutes of silence, to help maintain distancing. Anyone who chooses to participate in the walk will leave their flag at a distance to proceed on the walk course, as directed by an organizer.

Organizers plan to rope off an area for those individuals who are immunocompromised, or are otherwise high risk individuals who still wish to attend. We respect that this is a difficult time to gather and will strive to keep the health and safety of our community a priority.

If you are unable to join us in person at Fowler Lake Park, we encourage you to join us in nine minutes of silence at 10:15 a.m. in your own space.

***This event is co-sponsored by Indivisible Lake Country and Oconomowoc Area Action Team.