Kids' March for Black Lives

media release: As Desmond Tutu famously said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” If you’re looking for a way for your family to leave the ranks of the neutral and to join the urgency of this historic moment, please join us on September 13 for a Kids’ March for Black Lives.

There is a rich history of children playing important roles in racial justice activism. Join us while we uplift that history as well as the demands of the Movement for Black Lives to defund police and invest in Black people.

Several of Madison's child-centered organizations are collaborating to host this event and to show a unified front of support for movement demands. We will have several fun stations where kids can do chalking, decorate a banner, make signs and noisemakers and record a video. We will disburse books that have been purchased for the Little Free Libraries as part of the "Little Free Library Racial Justice Takeover."

The march will be short and we will end at Orton Park where we'll get to hear Ali Muldrow speak about the importance of educating our children about race.

Included in the agenda will be a short but poignant teach-in about movement demands. We echo those demands as our own and will be highlighting the need for our community to move with expediency to defund the Madison Police Department and invest in Black communities.

This event is hosted by allies in the Movement for Black Lives and is geared towards children who, like most of us, will benefit from some unpacking of what "safety" really means. As allies we understand the importance of centering the voices of those most impacted by racism, capitalism, and state violence and we are thrilled to be creating an event that attempts to do this and to push our city's analysis beyond platitudes and abstract intentions to concrete action that will change the conditions that create and are created by white supremacy.

Safety (in its authentic form) is our utmost priority. While part of the journey of allyship is pushing the limits of our comfort zone, preventing the transmission of Covid is a priority of this event. While this event does not fall in line with public health standards regulating the number of attendees at a given event, we would like to highlight research showing that protests are not where Covid-19 is generally being transmitted. We ask that all attendees take social distance measures and bring masks if they have them. We will have extra masks, hand sanitizer, and strict safety protocol at stations and involving any shared materials.

What: Kids' March for Black Lives

Where: McPike (Central) Park to Orton Park

When: September 13 from 3-515pm

Hosting organizations:

Allies For Black Lives - Madison; Alvarado Real Estate; A Room of One's Own; Badger Rock Neighborhood Center ;Banzo Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County Black Umbrella Global; Cafe Coda; ChaCha Hair; Communication; Community Action Coalition of South Central Wisconsin; Dane County Time Bank; East Madison Community Center; Educators Actively Working Towards Antiracism; Eken Park Neighborhood Association; Facility Solutions; Families for Justice ;Freedom Inc; Free The 350 Bail Fund ;First Unitarian Society Social Justice Ministry ;Goodman Center; Groundwork; GSAFE; Java Cat; Jenie Gao Studio; Johnson Public House; Justice for Londyn; Justified Anger; Lapham/Marquette PTG; Lazy Jane's; Lowell Community Organization; Lussier Community Education Center; Madison Church; Madison Monthly Meeting; Madison Reading Project; Madison Sourdough; Madison Teachers Incorporated; Marquette Neighborhood Association; Mickey's Tavern; Mindful Motion Physical Therapy; Morris Ramen; Mother Fools; MTI- Retired; Northside Planning Council; OutReach; Our Lives Magazine; Our Wisconsin Revolution Dane County; Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society; Progressive Dane; Red Caboose; Raging Grannies; Roman Candle; Rooted; Social Justice Center; Short Stack Eatery; Step Up for Equity; Supply Chain; Teaching Assistants' Association-Executive Board; Tenney-Lapham Neigborhood Association; The Respite Center; The Shop; The Studio- The Creative Arts community at UW; Tip Top Tavern; Urban Triage; Voces de la Frontera; Wheels For Winners; Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center; Women's International League For Peace & Freedom-Madison; WORT; WWWMV-LP (95.5FM)

Organizations supporting the demands of M4BL (not sponsoring the event)

Emerson East Neighborhood (EENA)