Hornets Against Hate launches peaceful protest for BLM

Published June 11, 2020

By CHRISTINA LASDIN

NORTH READING — In response to the recent tragedies of the death of George Floyd and many others within the Black community, a gathering was held at the town common on Thursday, June 4 from 7-8 p.m. The event was organized by North Reading resident and business owner Francine Coughlin, who sent out the information through the closed Facebook group called “Hornets Against Hate.”

Coughlin has long felt a desperation to help, but was overwhelmed on where to start. “I started posting on my personal page, just about how I was feeling. I noticed there were friends in the community feeling the same way, so I made a promise that I was going to start a Facebook group so we could all start having a conversation about it, about being actively anti-racist and actively anti-hate,” she said.

The group was started only a few days prior to the event, but it was getting so many new members that Coughlin decided she wanted to put something together as soon as possible to support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

Individuals across the town gathered with their peers, in face masks (due to social distancing) and carrying posters to support the movement and Coughlin’s initiative. It began with opening statements made by Coughlin regarding the recent tragedies, and then transitioned to a moment of silence for a total of eight minutes and 46 seconds, equal to the amount of time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck, suffocating him, which was caught on a video post that went viral. (Chauvin and three other officers were immediately fired and are all facing criminal charges in Floyd’s death.)

Following the long moment of silence, Coughlin charged the crowd of around 200 people to hold each other accountable and be actively anti-racist moving forward.

Members of the North Reading Police Department were there in support and ensured the event remained safe and respectful, as Coughlin hoped it would.

Community members of all ages attended the event and those in attendance felt we, as a community and a country, have a lot of work to do in recognizing the underlying racism that exists, and working to fix and prevent it openly. It’s impossible to ignore the demographic of the citizens of North Reading, and instead of dismissing it, we should start to wonder why and what efforts we can do to fix that and make people of color feel more included.

As the event concluded, citizens of North Reading who were present seemed charged to move forward and try to do better by the town. Graduating senior Bridget Grew offered that the town should work toward “changing how we educate our students.”

“I’ve been in the North Reading Public School system my entire life and I can’t recall any formative conversations on race or racial relations, and I think changing the stories we hear and how they are presented to us is very important,” Grew said.

Samantha Galvin, another graduating senior, suggested that “everyone has to focus on doing their best to educate themselves on the history of this country and how oppression still exists and how it manifests in our town, community, and the country as a whole. I think we need to have conversations without being afraid of them and approach all conversations with an open mind.”

Grew added, “I think it’s really important to check our privilege, particularly in the town that we live in with the majority of white people of relative affluence, and doing some inner work and reflecting on how you’re promoting racism in your own life even if you think you aren’t, and finding a way to learn from those around you even if they’re not necessarily in your town.”

Others attending the event expressed the belief that talking about race and race relations should no longer be avoided, no matter how uncomfortable these conversations may seem at first.

Courtney Goshey, who has lived in town for a decade and has two children, believes that each family should “talk to their kids about what’s going on and listen.”

In order to ensure a better and more equal future, Americans must recognize how this country was created through the use of slavery.

This belief was reflected in the comments by another town resident, Maria Baker, who said we should “try to have a better understanding of where other people are coming from, but also educating yourself on the history and what’s really happened in this country and how we got to where we are.”

Sam Fisher, who is biracial, moved to North Reading in 2002. He grew up in Indonesia and is half Indonesian. His wife Rachel is the pastor of the Aldersgate United Methodist Church and they are raising their family of four children here.

Fisher suggested that people who care about understanding others from different backgrounds and ethnicities should “listen to your friends who have had experiences outside your own. Learn more – there’s a bunch of stuff on YouTube, shows on Netflix – to learn about your own blindspots.”

In the future, Fisher said, “I’d like to see active motion towards equality for everybody. Instead of just saying everything is already equal and slacking off on that issue, it’s something we can be blind to. We may think ‘oh racism was already taken care of, we had a black president,’ but that’s not what takes care of racism; it’s changing hearts and having them grow out of ignorance.”

“We are ignorant of experiences outside our own,” Fisher added. “Hold people in power accountable to see if the businesses we support have people of color on their boards. At the school level, if you don’t have teachers that look like you, can you feel included? Find out what type of training our law enforcement has to find out more. Be curious, and learn.”

Stephanie Koenig, a nurse and mother of three who has lived in town for six years, believes “it’s definitely good to have a little bit of candor now instead of being subtle like before, especially if you have older kids, to be candid about the way things are.”

As for how the town could go about achieving this candor moving forward, she suggested the creation of a “culture society, or something that’s inclusive of everybody.”

Positive steps forward

Although this was the first event created by the group “Hornets Without Hate,” Coughlin stated it is only the first step. She urges the community to stay active, step up for the community, and vote for a more equal future. She hopes more people who wish to help will find this group to be accepting, and no longer feel intimidated to work toward the change they hope for.

“On the most basic level, I want anyone in our community who feels like they don’t have a voice or they haven’t found their people to know that our group, Hornets against Hate, is going to be a safe space for them to have these difficult conversations and voice any concerns they may have, and let them know we have their back,” Coughlin said.

“I think that North Reading is an amazing community; it’s my home, I love it here. I made the conscious decision to move back here, it’s where my family is, it’s where my business is, and it’s where some of my closest friends are. I am hoping that at the very least (Hornets Against Hate) can offer support and friendship and for people to know they have an ally here.”

Coughlin also hopes this event will serve as a catalyst for the town to have “some more difficult conversations” on a broader scale.

“Obviously our demographic is mostly white and that’s not something we should be blind to. We should wonder why and how can we open up our community more. How can we make a more conscious decision to educate ourselves [and] make sure our children are being actively educated?” Coughlin asked.

“Let’s not pretend that racism doesn’t exist. Let’s not just talk about black lives mattering during Black History Month. Let’s talk about our history in the best way possible, in the realest way possible. Let’s educate ourselves and our children on what’s going on in the world and how our experiences are different just because the color of their skin, sexual orientation, or religion,” she said.

Asked for suggestions on what can be done going forward to combat racism on both an individual level and a town level, Coughlin said people need to “step up and run” for local boards.

“…The people who serve our town are wonderful people, and it can be thankless to be on a Select Board or committee,” commented Coughlin.

As the immediate past president of the Reading-North Reading Chamber of Commerce and as someone who is involved in the town’s historical groups, she understands that “it can sometimes feel like you cannot get any real work done or make any impact. I’m hoping that our town can make these boards more accessible for people and also people who really want to affect change for our town need to step up and run for these boards,” she said.

It does surprise her to see elected positions go unopposed. “In such an active, intelligent, amazing community, it surprises me. I encourage people, and I know the time commitment can be overwhelming, but if you want to see change then you have to affect change. It’s one thing to talk about it and post about it, but it’s another thing to step up and be that change and devote your time and energy to it,” Coughlin believes.

“I have gotten involved in various town matters and I’ve always felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, [regardless of] it being frustrating and time consuming,” she said.

The author is a graduate of North Reading High School, Class of 2019, and a rising sophomore at North Carolina State University where she is majoring in engineering.