Protesters Cover Lake Anne Plaza With 1,265 Chalk Names

RESTON, VA — As a form of peaceful protest, Kaila Drayton, her husband Aaron Ferrufino and two of their friends set out Sunday morning to cover the bricks of Lake Anne Plaza in Reston with chalk.

In large letters they drew "BLM," representing "Black Lives Matter," and surrounded it with the names of the 1,265 black people killed between 2015-20 by police across the country.

Current events, such as the protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody, inspired Drayton to organize the chalk demonstration.

"I didn't feel comfortable going to D.C. and protesting," she said. "The situation made me nervous, on top of that, it being a pandemic. So I was trying to think of ways that I could peacefully protest that isn't marching in the streets. I thought writing out these names would really have a great impact."

As Drayton and her team worked, members of the Reston community came up and talked to them about what they were doing and what it all meant, which is something she hoped would happen. The demonstration was designed to create conversations.

"You hear black names in the media, and so I think that people forget that this goes on even when it doesn't hit CNN," she said. "Sometimes there isn't a video to prove what happened, but their names are no less important."

With the help of 20-30 other community members who walked up and joined their effort, the job was completed in about four hours.

As of early Monday afternoon, Drayton had not gone back to see if their handiwork was still there. While there hasn't been a rainstorm, people have probably been walking on it since they finished.

Even if the chalk has faded a bit, Drayton, whose day job is being a budget manager at the National Wildlife Foundation, hopes that the chalk names will inspire others to act.

"Action can take a lot of different forms," she said. "Whether it's writing in chalk on a plaza, whether it's marching in the streets, whether it's signing a petition or making a donation, people can doing something. People can be doing something beyond social media. I hope that people see this and are inspired create their own peaceful protest and bring awareness to this issue."

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