Students march against injustice

The same day that a Minneapolis jury was hearing closing arguments in the case of a police officer accused of killing a Black man, nearly three dozen Carlton High School students walked out of school to stand in solidarity against racial injustice.

The students and some teachers marched from the front of the high school to the teachers' parking lot, chanting "No justice, no peace, prosecute the police," as they walked, led by speaker Jaylah Willis. She also led protests in Duluth last summer after George Floyd died as officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck.

Willis thanked the students for coming out.

"If you're here today, it's because you're tired of everything that's going on. If you're here today, you want to see change," she said. "For the past I don't know how long, there's been so much injustice going on, especially in Minnesota, so it's super important that we do this."

Willis pointed out that approximately 83 percent of the population of Minnesota is white. "So probably most of you guys out here are white and you guys are the majority. You guys can make the change that is needed here."

Junior Haley Ableiter introduced Willis. Ableiter organized the walkout with help from several friends after seeing notices about a statewide walkout on the Minnesota Teen Activists Instagram page. They worked with superintendent John Engstrom to set rules for the walkout.

"Agreeing or disagreeing with a particular student-expression of free speech is not the point," Engstrom said in an email to staff. "Finding ways to allow them to make that expression, in a way that maintains a sense of order and - especially in the Covid era - maintains health and safety protocols, is the point."

Teachers, staff and REACH staff helped monitor Monday's march, which was entirely peaceful.

"I think it's important because we don't have a lot of representation here in Carlton and we need more of it," said Ableiter, who is white, clarifying she meant "more representation for Black Lives Matter and our students of color."

Most of the students held signs. Esperansa Kingbird's sign read "Standing up for what is right is worth it." Ableiter held a sign that read: "I will never understand but I STAND."

As she spoke, Willis tried to help the students understand. She talked about growing up as a Black person, and how discrimination is an almost daily event. The first day she went to school as a 4-year-old, Willis said she was called the "N-word" as soon as she got on the bus.

"That same year my father passed away after an interaction with the police, so this means a lot to me," Willis said.

She touched on previous cases of violence against Black men, naming Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and 12-year-old Tamir Rice. "These things keep on happening," she said. "It didn't just happen last year with George, and it didn't just happen with Daunte Wright a couple weeks ago. These things have been happening for years and years and years and years. We're out here today because we are tired.

"A lot of people don't believe in police brutality, but it definitely happens and it happens mostly to minorities and Black people specifically."

She had the group kneel on the asphalt parking lot in silence for 9 minutes and 29 seconds - the amount of time police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck - in memory of everyone who has died as the result of police brutality or racism.

The students took a knee on the asphalt. As the minutes passed, they shifted, uncomfortable but determined to continue kneeling. School buses drove by as they remained there.

"Imagine how difficult that had to be," she told the students as they got up.

After the walkout, Willis said she was happy to see all the students come out. She thanked them for their signs, and their presence.

"I didn't know anyone in Carton was really interested," she said. "It was really good to see that."