MERIDEN — On one occasion over the last five years, the Rev. John Gregory-Davis stood alone at the corner of Route 120 and Main Street in Meriden holding a Black Lives Matter sign.
On others, he was joined by a group ranging from three to 20 others for the weekly vigil. That is until earlier this month when George Floyd’s death in police custody inspired as many as 150 protestors to come out and hold signs, as well as others such as “End White Supremacy” and “Stop Hate.”
Gregory-Davis, co-pastor at Meriden Congregational Church, and a handful of stalwarts — both church attendees and non — said they’re glad to see the increase in participation in Meriden, as well as the nationwide interest in racial justice that’s arisen in recent weeks.
“Nothing changes without awareness,” the 62-year-old Gregory-Davis said from under a face mask as he stood in a group of about 70 on the corner in Meriden on Wednesday evening.
The Meriden vigil is one of three similar weekly events associated with the Upper Valley chapter of the national network Showing Up for Racial Justice. The other two vigils are in Hanover and Lebanon. All three had been on hold in recent months but have restarted in the wake of Floyd’s death.
While Gregory-Davis said he doesn’t think that this latest burst of interest in racial justice will lead to all of the changes needed for an equitable society, he is optimistic that it will lead to some.
He noted that change has already begun, pointing to moves such as Quaker Oats’ plan, announced Wednesday, to change the name of the Aunt Jemima brand out of an acknowledgement that the brand was built on a racist stereotype, as well as a change in tone from the NFL.
The new energy has reinvigorated the group, which first began the weekly vigils in 2015, the year following the fatal 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. This winter, even before the pandemic hit, the group had put the vigils on hold until spring due to the cold weather and declining interest.
“We were quite frankly disheartened about the whole thing,” said Claremont resident Darlene Ball, who had been attending the vigil regularly since a Black Lives Matter sign she had up on her property was defaced in 2017. Someone painted a swastika over it using red paint that looked like blood, she said.
Ball said the group, which is largely composed of white retirees, has been reinvigorated by new energy in the past couple of weeks. When she arrived for the first vigil following Floyd’s death and saw 150 people gathered, Ball recalled: “I thought I was going to cry. That was very gratifying.”
As the group stood in a line along Route 120 on Wednesday, several passersby honked horns in support; a few others responded with a thumbs-down, middle fingers or silence. But the negative responses underscore the importance of continuing on, said longtime vigil participant Nancy Wightman, an 83-year-old Cornish resident.
“As long as you get a bad response, you figure you need to keep going,” Wightman said. “Nothing has changed.”
Jody Schubert, a 70-year-old Cornish resident who is a longtime member of the church, said she has learned a lot through her participation in the vigils over the years and through the emails Gregory-Davis sends out to group members as reminders. He includes links to relevant TED Talks, podcasts and writing on the subject.
As a result, Schubert said she is more willing to have a conversation about racism, at least with other white people.
“I want to just listen to people of color,” she said. “We don’t have much opportunity for that in our white Upper Valley, unfortunately.”
Over the years, the group has had passersby respond by saying, “All lives matter.” Gregory-Davis said they don’t dispute that fact, but the point is that it is black lives that are under attack.
Gregory-Davis, who grew up in Lancaster, N.H., attended Bates College in Maine and Boston University for seminary, said that some white people feel threatened by the push for racial equality, perhaps because to them equality feels like a demotion.
But, he said, “white supremacy hurts all of us.” He considers the Black Lives Matter movement one of “collective liberation.” By ending racism, white people can “rehumanize ourselves,” he said.
Among those moved to begin attending the vigil following Floyd’s death is Kelsey MacNamee, who grew up attending the Meriden church and is now its spiritual formation coordinator in charge of children’s programming.
“I’m just feeling very much like I need to be taking concrete steps to being an ally,” said the 28-year-old Sunapee resident after the Wednesday vigil.
It’s the responsibility of people who have experienced white privilege to stand up to injustice, she said. Even though racism can feel like a distant problem in a small white-majority community such as Meriden, MacNamee said it’s in such places where “racist ideologies can breed.”
She said she’s hopeful that the world will become a more equitable place by teaching children, including her 2-year-old daughter Charlotte, to “feel a sense of responsibility and act on it.”
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
