Jenny Fraser, from Evanston, Illinois, now lives in Inverness. Here she reflects on the surprising - and impressive - reaction in the Scottish city to the Black Lives Matter campaign.
On Wednesday May 27th 2020 I woke at my usual time of 7:30 am and after getting my cup of coffee sat at my laptop to find out the latest news of a world under coronavirus lockdown. I noticed my sister who lives in West St. Paul Minnesota was active on messenger and sent her a message saying, ‘You’re up late.’ The response I received was unexpected.
‘D (my 26 year old nephew) and I are watching the fires raging through the city. The fire and police department are struggling to contain them, and we are just waiting for the mayor’s press conference.’ I quickly put on CNN, thinking ‘it’s almost 2am in Minnesota - what is going on?’ I was to learn a lot.
I learned about George Floyd and in that moment for me the world as I knew it changed direction. America had had enough, and protests across the country and the world stood in solidarity with George Floyd and the need for change.
Inverness joined in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest by creating a space across one of the city’s main bridges for people to put up their protest posters last Saturday. I must admit I thought this seemed like a rather lame protest compared to the daily mass gatherings happening throughout the world. But what I was to discover was that this was a protest that actually grew in a way I never imagined.
I visited the bridge three times over the coming week, learning something new on each visit. The protest made me think of my role and my attitudes towards racism. The bridge protest was creating a local platform for discussion between people: family, friends and strangers were discussing a range of topics relating to Black Lives Matter and racism. At a time when Inverness was doing its best to social distance, people were having discussions with each other about current events and how we play a role in them. For me, the bridge became not just a protest, but a piece of working social art. I found myself seeking more information after leaving the bridge and a need to educate myself further by what I just witnessed on the bridge protest.
I have spent the last week reading and discussing issues such as racial profiling, redlining, police brutality and the BLM movement. I have started recalling my own racial experiences growing up in the suburbs of Chicago and the impact these experiences have played in my adult life. Evanston, the suburb where I grew up, has a rich diversity of races and I was privileged to be encouraged to form friendships with a wide range of people from different cultural, religious and racial backgrounds. I now realise those formative years have set me up to engage and welcome open and honest discussions around race.
I was delighted to hear that the poster, banners and artwork from the bridge were being relocated to the grounds of the Eden Court theatre in Inverness to protect it from the elements. It allows the discussion to continue that Black Lives Matter and that Inverness and the Highlands stand in solidarity.