'Change Must Happen': Crowd Packs Hamptons George Floyd Protest

EAST HAMPTON, NY — More than 1,000 people crowded the streets of East Hampton Sunday, lying down and kneeling in solidarity as they protested against the murder of George Floyd.

"Say Their Names: A Peaceful Rally" was organized by Taliya Hayes and Anna Hoffmann and held near the Hook Mill with protestors waving signs, chanting "Hands up, don't shoot," "Black lives matter," and "I can't breathe," as they marched.

Next, many lay on the ground or knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time that Floyd begged for help and his mama as a police officer pressed his knee into his neck until he died.

Addressing the crowd, Hayes discussed the words, "No justice, no peace. Forget these racist police." But, she added, not all police are racist: "Don't forget the ones that do their jobs, that keep us safe — that put their lives on the line."

Speakers included Travis Wilkins, who went to school in Bridgehampton and is now a middle school teacher in Virginia.

"I was the one they said would not graduate," he said. "I was special ed; now I teach special ed," Wilkins said, adding that he will soon earn his doctorate.

For too long, Wilkins said, the voices of black people have not been heard. "If I'm good enough to be your child's nanny, your personal maid, teach your child the ABCs while you're on a Zoom call, then I'm good enough to be respected as an African American," he said.

Looting, he said, "is the by product of bitterness and rage" after individuals have been "disrespected" for hundreds of years. Wilkins added, however: "I don't have to burn down a building. I can show you my three degrees."

Black voices have not been heard, he said, not during slavery or when they marched across the bridge on Bloody Sunday or when they had to sit in the back of the bus or drink from water fountains for "black people only."

Now, Wilkins said, "I can buy the whole water system."

The issue, he added, is bigger than just George Floyd or a single event. "What we will not do is allow you to disrespect us another day," he said. "I'm not a dog on a leash. I'm a human being with a voice and if I raise my voice, it's because you didn't hear us the first time."

He added: "You matter. I matter."

And, Wilkins said, law enforcement is not all bad.

Looking ahead, Wilkins said, change is coming, with new policies put in place to protect the rights of black individuals who have long been discriminated against. "Not only is it wrong, it's illegal," he said. "I'm mad at a system that has failed me for years — and I'm coming for the system."

Minerva Perez, executive director of Organización Latino-Americana, or OLA, of Eastern Long Island, spoke in Spanish and in English. "We are united in this fight, in this action for transparency, accountability and justice, because we deserve to have access to our full humanity," she said. "It is not possible to continue living like this. The change must happen now. Say their names. The change must happen now, not yesterday, not only tomorrow, but now. Say their names."

Rabbi Debra Stein, cantor at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, said while would have liked to have thought the issue of racism had "been put to bed, but it hasn't. You have to root out racism and stop the hatred."

Stein also spoke out in support of local police. "The vast majority of police officers are in favor of these protests," she said. "They are on our side. They want peace and justice."

Stein quoted Nelson Mandela: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

She said she agreed people are "hard-wired to love."

Stein also quoted Elie Wiesel, who survived the Holocaust and wrote about his experiences in the book "Night" and others: “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must — at that moment — become the center of the universe.”

Stein added: "We are at the center of the universe."

She then sang to the crowd: "We must build this world from love."

Richard Burns, the longtime superintendent of the East Hampton Union Free School District who is set to retire, said the day was a time to honor "the incredible youth of the East Hampton community," including the organizers of the event. "Look at what they've accomplished today. You are a beacon of hope, that things may change now."

He also said that Wiesel's writing had long inspired him.

Burns said he believes in public education, and in classrooms where the Pledge of Allegiance is recited every day, speaking of "liberty and justice for all." He asked what can be done to ensure that all children, including black and brown children, "grow up in a world filled with opportunity and justice, and not fear. The answer must include our schools."

Other speakers included the Rev. Leandra Lambert of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Hampton.

Willie Jenkins of Bridgehampton, who has helped to organize many of the East End marches, spoke to the crowd as they lay on the ground, hands behind their backs, for the same number of minutes that Floyd lay dying.

"They said he had a fake $20 bill. My life isn't worth $20? Black people's lives are not worth $20 You hear the news? They make excuses; they say he had a record. Everyone is afforded a chance to fix their mistakes. He was only 46 years old," Jenkins said.

(Video by Lisa Finn for Patch)

Looking at the crowd lying and kneeling for almost nine minutes, Jenkins continued: "The silence is deafening. You're antsy right now. I can see it in your faces. Imagine how antsy black people are. I love your town. I'm from Bridgehampton and I've loved coming here my whole life. But we all know that sometime I'll be walking down the street and that truck is going to pull up and they're going to say, 'Go back to Africa.'"

The time has come for change, he and hundreds of others said. "Enough is enough," Jenkins said.

(Video by Lisa Finn for Patch)