'It Takes A Village': Austin Educators March For Black Students

AUSTIN, TX – Austin educators gathered Friday morning in Republic Square Park to demonstrate their commitment to safeguarding Black students' right to live and learn in a safe and just society.

The rally began at 9 a.m., with the intention of demonstrating the "unity and commitment of educators to bring about conditions in our society that allow our Black students and their families to exist and thrive," the organizers wrote on the event page.

Richard J. Reddick, Associate Dean for Equity, Community Engagement and Outreach in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin, attended Friday's rally and said he was inspired by the large number of people who participated and the powerful messages that were shared.

"It truly had a community feel to it," he said. "Everybody feels like this is not the end of it, this is not a one-off thing you do, but more of an energizing space to remind people that this is what we do on a daily basis, to know who is doing the work with you and to bring out some new people."

According to the event organizers, the rally was not in favor or support of any specific educational system or curriculum, but was focused on collecting the voices of educators around the area to share their commitment to supporting their students.

While he felt compelled to "do something" in the wake of George Floyd's death on May 25 in Minneapolis, Reddick said it took him a little bit of time to find a space in which he felt safe enough to participate, especially as protests and demonstrations against police brutality across the country became violent.

"Honestly, I felt numb for a couple days," he said. "I didn't feel as safe, frankly, because when these things happen and if there is a disturbance of some kind, guess what – as a black person, I'm going to probably be the person in the crosshairs."

As an educator, Reddick felt he could trust that participants in Friday's #EducatorsForJustice rally would truly be invested in supporting black lives.

Mackee Mason, a high school principal in Austin, spoke at the rally and shared a story about a time he had to call the police to deal with a situation in his school. When the police arrived to the school, they assumed Mason was the person who was the threat to the school, instead of pursuing the person they were called to help deal with.

"We live this life, we do all this work to help our students understand how to interact with police, and it happened to him," Reddick said. "It was such a moving story."

A local high school junior also spoke at the rally and shared her experience in this moment and how she has dealt with police and authority figures throughout her life.

"All of us were talking as educators, here's one of our students talking about what she's experienced and what she'd like to do," Reddick said. "It was troubling because nobody of color goes through life without having these experiences. It was really powerful to hear her speak."

Images posted on social media from the event showed large numbers of people gathered with signs reading, "Educators for Black Lives," "Black Students Matter," and "Say no to racism."

Speaking at the rally, Reddick reminded his fellow educators that people are marching in support of black lives all over the world, and that "feels different."

"This is a moment that seems to be moving in a direct that nobody anticipated," he said. "My hope is that people commit to the march today but do anti-racist, anti-bias, fight anti-blackness on a daily basis."

For students today, Reddick said it's important to educate yourself beyond what is taught in the school system. Learning from members of the community who have lived through different cultural experiences is an important part of being understanding the history of their culture.

"Wherever you reside, with social media, all the things we have, you're only a text, a tweet away from getting somebody who can help you and support you," he said. "It takes a village, and we saw that village today."

While donations were not required, any donations not used for event supplies will be donated to UNCF: United Negro College Fund.

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