Hundreds Gather In Andover For Juneteenth Celebration

ANDOVER, MA — Part celebration and part protest, Andover's Juneteenth event drew hundreds to Doherty Field, Friday evening. The recently-formed group Merrimack Valley Black and Brown Voices hosted the event, with the support of the Cormier Youth Center and the Andover Area Solidarity Group.

Attendees, many white and celebrating Juneteenth for the first time, arrived to find the field dotted with signs sharing the biographies of Black people killed by police.

MVBBVoices co-founder Mayara Reis, of North Andover, opened the event. Reis pointed out the local context — referencing a recent incident when an Andover woman of Dominican ethnicity was followed and confronted by an Andover Fire lieutenant when she was checking her own mail.

Fellow co-founder Bria Gadsden, also of North Andover, spoke on the history of Juneteenth. The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with federal orders proclaiming all slaves in Texas free.

Gadsden's own ancestors come from the South — South Carolina — and for her, Juneteenth is about remembering her foremothers and forefathers, she said, including two living great-grandparents. She read Maya Angelou's poem, Caged Bird.

Joey Kotright, the director of the Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School in Chicopee, led the crowd in three and a half minutes of first shouting and then silence, representing the time George Floyd spent crying out before he went silent. For the first minute, Kotright led shouts of "I Can't Breathe." Much of the crowd, and Kotright and the three MVBBVoices co-founders, held their fists in the air.

Kotright, who is Puerto Rican, would speak again later in the event. He read his poetry about racism and police brutality and called for concrete action from the town, including arresting the Andover Fire lieutenant.

"No more meetings," Kotright said. "Stop traffic until he's arrested."

Kotright led chants of "No justice, no peace, no racist police."

Andover High physics teacher Ralph Bledsoe spoke about Andover's Black history, including Salem Poor, an Andover resident who was born a slave and bought his own freedom, before becoming a decorated war hero at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

"Initially, I blew up and wanted to give my rage speech," Bledsoe said. "Then I was reminded this is a celebration. I wanted to celebrate."

After the event, Bledsoe said he's the district's only African American teacher and he would like the district to hire more people of color, although he "can't be mad," based on his own experiences attempting, unsuccessfully, to convince people of color to come work in Andover.

The program also featured two vocal performances, including Philips Academy senior Summer Seward singing Break Every Chain to a standing ovation.

Following the planned speakers, a dozen attendees spoke at an open mic, some reading poetry. An 11-year-old mixed-race Andover resident spoke of her experiences with racism in town from a young age. White residents encouraged others to be allies and get involved.

"How can you sit and say, we'll vote it out in November?" a white teenage resident asked. "You can't vote out racism."

MVBBVoices co-founder Elizabeth Walther-Grant, an Andover resident since she was five, closed the event by speaking of her experiences in town.

"I was always a target of racism," Walther-Grant said. "I was called the n-word outside the high school, and the town did nothing ... I got followed in stores in town. I always felt like an outsider.

"I'm so thankful for you all being here, showing me I'm not an outsider," Walther-Grant said. "Join us. I needed this when I was a kid. Up until now, I never felt heard."

After the event, all three co-founders of the organization said they were very pleased with the event and are looking forward to doing more. They also are looking for concrete actions from town officials — although each has different focuses.

"We're working with the town on resources for people of color," Reis said. She called for more transparency in budgeting.

Walther-Grant called for town officials to make it clearer to residents of color that they support them, pointing to the fact that the Andover Select Board had not said anything about the firefighter, a town employee, following a resident of color.

"It happened weeks ago," she pointed out.

She also called for more people of color in town leadership and more support for Black kids in the schools.

Gadsden called for her town to bring more Black and brown people to the table, and include more support in the budget for those populations.

"Invest," she said.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.