At a recent Waterbury Select Board meeting, select board members approved a request to install a racial justice mural by the Waterbury train station. However, the Black Lives Matter activists that requested this mural have since run into logistical challenges around getting the mural designed, approved by the train station and installed. In short, the process is taking longer than they expected.
Thus, local activist and Waterbury resident Maroni Minter explained the thought process behind putting up a Black Lives Matter banner now. “We are still thinking about the mural, but because of the process, we want something to go up now. While we figure out what the mural will look like and while we navigate through the hoops of getting that done, we want something immediate to stand up with what’s really a world-wide movement,” said Minter.
This Black Lives Matter banner would go up on the banner posts in front of the Waterbury municipal building, where upcoming events are normally advertised. The design depicts rolling Vermont hills, with the words “Waterbury supports Black Lives Matter,” in the foreground.
Select board chair Chris Viens was concerned that the banner would make other people feel excluded. “I don’t want people out there to be offended by feeling that they’re not included in this issue,” said Viens. “I’m talking about Asian people or people of other ethnicities.”
Minter argued that Black Lives Matter is an inclusive movement. “People feel that the statement Black Lives Matter means that no other lives matter. And that’s not what it means at all. When we say Black Lives Matter, we are actually trying to raise awareness,” said Minter. “This is about being inclusive. This is not about dividing races from each other. This is about saying, for so long, we, black people, feel that we’ve been living in a society in which our lives don’t matter. And we want them to matter!”
Eventually, the board voted to raise a Black Lives Matter banner in Waterbury. It will be up for an indefinite amount of time.
