'Black Lives Matter' Rally Sunday Brings Community Together in Peace, Unity

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — A new "Black Lives Matter" march and rally Sunday in Southampton brought a community together with a unified message for peach.

The event kicked off at the Hamptons United Methodist Church in Southampton and proceeded to Southampton Village Police Headquarters, down Job's Lane to Agawam Park to Pyrrhus Concer Lane and the Pyrrhus Concer monument.

The rally included poetry, with more than 30 participants, including children, holding signs.

Organizer Donna Stovall met in advance with Southampton Village Police Det. Sgt. Herm Lamison to discuss the route; she also met with East Hampton Village police in advance of a rally in East Hampton that took place earlier in July.

"I am trying to keep my liaison with all officers because it's easier, peaceful — and we have the chance to build rapport with communities," Stovall said.

Of Sunday's event, Vanessa Vascez-Corleone, who organized the first rallies in Riverhead and later, in Bridgehampton and Southampton, said, "I think that Donna and all the rest of the organizers did a great job. For me, that's what it's always been about. I started something, that way someone else could stand up and do it, too, like a chain reaction. That's the only way this will make a difference, if everyone keeps it going. I'm really proud of Donna and all those keeping it going."

The Southampton vigil follows the two events held earlier in July on the South Fork.

Chanting "Hands up, don't shoot," "No justice, No peace," "Black lives matter, All lives matter, Blue lives matter," a group joined together, waved signs, stood on the sidewalk and marched down streets in both East Hampton and Bridgehampton as some motorists honked in support.

The first took place at the park near the Stop and Shop in East Hampton Village and was the second gathering organized by Vascez-Corleone, 28, of Riverhead, who planned a similar peaceful demonstration a week earlier in Riverhead.

The East Hampton rally, also organized by Stovall, was focused on diversity and peace, and meant to raise awareness.

Stovall, who worked closely with East Hampton Village Police to plan the event, said the rallies are critical.

"They're so important, because they're bringing the community and the police department closer together," she said.

A second event, presented by Racial Justice East End, a "Community March & Vigil to Support Black Lives Matter" as well as Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile, took place the same day, beginning at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse on Sag Harbor Turnpike. A march continued to the Hampton Library on Main Road in Bridgehampton, where a vigil took place.

Racial Justice East End's sponsoring organizations include Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, Temple Adas Israel, and Canio's Cultural Cafe.

The demonstration in Riverhead drew more than 100 people, carrying signs and peacefully mobilizing to bring unity after the killings of black men at the hands of law enforcement.

The event was a catalyst for change, and now plans are in place to take the rallies on the road, with similar events planned across the East End and Long Island.

Tina Guglielmo of East Hampton said she came out with urgency, "to try to find an antidote to all of this horrific violence. I think the antidote is love. I'm here to love."

When asked why he'd turned, out, Arjun Achuthan of East Hampton said simply, "You've got to be here today."

Regina Sster said she's Jewish and has experienced prejudice. She wrote a poem for the event.

Ella Engel-Snow of Sagaponack said white silence is dangerous. "It's really important to speak up," she said. "Racism is built into our system."

Lucius Ware, president of the Long Island chapter of the NAACP, attended both rallies and commended all organizers.

While he said all lives matter, the rallies are critical because, "Black people have not mattered, even up until the present day."

Police and those gathered for the demonstration stood side by side, talking together and working together to create a meaningful event.

At the Bridgehampton event, Kimberly Quinn Johnson, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, spoke passionately about the terrible events in the news, including a recent shooting in Baton Rouge that left three police officers dead.

While all lives matter, she said mothers of black children have to live in fear that their sons might be gunned down, with no justice ever realized. She spoke of the pain of a little girl who had to bury her brother. "For us, the grief is real," she said.

She added, "The truth is, in this country, all lives have not mattered."

All lives will not matter, she said, until black men are not killed at traffic stops, or outside stores for selling loose cigarettes. All lives will not matter until 12 year old boys are no longer gunned down in the park, she said.

Kathy Engel said she hoped the day would mark the end of Bridgehampton as a community where racism and white supremacy live.

Vascez-Corleone, who by day is a project manager for a construction company and also owns a tax business and a cleaning business, said her generation needs to mobilize and have a voice for change.

"It's important for people my age and younger to start doing this," she said. "So many don't think we can do things like this. We're so used to reading about Martin Luther King and that generation doing things — and that's where it ended. So many think it can't be done in our generation, or we don't do things like that. It's important for someone my age or younger to believe that we can do it, that we can make a change."
Vascez-Corleone said she's proud to be a catalyst for change. "Everyone is ready to go forward and keep it going. I'm proud of the awareness this brought — everyone can see that racism is alive. And it's in our own backyard."