Hundreds of protesters marched from Santa Clara University to San Jose State University’s Olympic Black Power Statue on Friday, also known as Juneteenth, where local high schoolers spoke about police brutality and systemic racism within schools.
“We don't need good cops in a bad system. The police were designed first as the slave-catchers protocol: to oppress,” Josiah Cannon,18-year-old Brave Space member, said. “We may have built this country, but this country was not built for us.” Cannon said systemic racism interrupts the progress of racial equality.
The “Freedom Day: Still Marching for Freedom” march was organized by Brave Space, South Bay Black Coalition (SBBC) and took place on Juneteenth. The holiday’s name is a combination of June and nineteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when slavery ended in the U.S. Black youth Brave Space members met the march at 4:45 p.m. at SJSU where they spoke until 6 p.m.
Brave Space is a platform curated by adult advisors Shay Franco-Clausen and Roshad Green for high school students in Santa Clara County to share their experiences and reflect about the Black Lives Matter meaning with Black youth in the community.
High school student and co-founder of Brave Space Jordan Paran said she first came to Franco-Clausen with the intent of creating the organization to do something with the community.
“This was a very peaceful protest. It was a beautiful march to see all of this diversity,” Franco said. “All this was founded in not a melting pot, but beautiful colors of so many different communities that make San Jose, Santa Clara County and the Bay Area.”
Cannon spoke at the event alongside local high schoolers: Jaden Morgan, Lawrence Baylor, Zaria Maloof, Ciara Burton, Phoenix LaFreniere and Paran.
“The kids speak because these are the Black kids we protect,” Franco-Clausen said. “I’m really happy to see this.”
Cannon said the justice system has never been on the Black community’s side.
“Look at marijuana for example. Statistically, whites and Blacks smoke at the same rate, but as a result, there’s an overpopulation of police presence in Black communities,” he said. “Black people are charged more, incarcerated more and sentenced to longer jail time.”
Cannon said prisons continue to strip individuals of their basic legal rights because the more people they take in, the more affluent prisons become. Meanwhile, prisoners lose their vote while still being counted in the U.S. Census.
“The prison system is fueling itself on the degradation of the Black community [and] Black wealth,” Cannon said.
LaFreniere,16, was the first youth speaker of the event and sang “Stand Up,” from the movie “Harriet.”
SJSU’s lawn was filled with the sound of hundreds of protesters clapping their hands to LaFreniere as she sang, “I'm gonna stand up / Take my people with me / Together we are going/ To a brand new home.”
Burton, 19, said she had the privilege of attending private schools throughout her life, eventually graduating from Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in Spring 2019. She said she was one of three Black students in her grade and one of 10 Black students in the school.
“I was never under the impression that I would be forced to think about the color of my skin at such a young age,” Burton said. “I was supposed to be grateful, because little to no Black children were ever going to have the same opportunity as me.”
She said the qualifications to attend private education are exclusively prioritized to white and rich families.
Franco-Clausen said that because the Black community in Santa Clara County makes up 2.7% of the population, the education system has to do more to help Black students.
“Of the 2.7% are Black kids in school here. Only 31% of our Black girls graduate from high school and only 17% of our Black males graduate,” Franco-Clausen said. “We have to stand up because that is unexceptable.”
Burton said her activism to support Black students and diminish racism throughout her school often took a toll on her because white students felt threatened by her need to address their privilege.
Cannon said schools need more Black and non-Black leaders and role models to encourage students to strive for greatness.
“It’s not that all lives matter, it’s just that right now, mainly the Blacks are getting profiled, it’s mainly the Blacks being thrown around, killed [and] shot at,” 15-year-old Lawrence Baylor said.
Burton played a recording of her grandfather and American actor LeVar Burton, in which he said to Black youth: “By doing what you felt in your heart what must be done, you are the heart of the movement.”
