Students stage ‘die-in’ at City Hall
Want meeting with Walsh over school closures
Hundreds of protesters sat outside Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s door, calling for a meeting with him to discuss Boston’s ongoing gun violence and the closure of three schools because of BuildBPS.
Students and community members gathered at City Hall yesterday for a “die-in” to advocate for minority residents whose schools are closing and whose communities have seen a disproportionate amount of homicides due to gun violence.
“I don’t know about you, but I am tired of thoughts and prayers,” said Monica Cannon-Grant, organizer of the protest. “All we get is thoughts and prayers.”
Cannon-Grant said Walsh agreed to meet with her more than four months ago about the ongoing problems in Boston, but she has since been ignored. She said they wanted from the mayor reallocation of funds to not close the schools, a community accountability board, a meeting about violence prevention and to establish yearround youth job funding. She said they will give the mayor until Monday to respond to them.
“If they are as fast to make the decision to close schools, then we want some expediency with your lives,” Cannon-Grant told the crowd. “So you don’t need a month for them to decide how to stop our lives from being lost.”
So, she arranged the walkout and die-in to raise awareness about their causes and deliver their message to the mayor directly.
“We are marching for justice, we are marching for our brothers and our sisters,” the crowd chanted as they entered City Hall.
“I hope by the end of today our voices are heard and they understand why we are here, why we are missing school, why we walked out,” said Excel Academy junior Fatima Eddabhi.
Walsh said in a statement to the Herald, “To the students who expressed their concerns today, I value your advocacy on behalf of our community, and I want to make clear there is nothing more important to me than making sure our residents are safe, and our students receive a high-quality education that will open doors of opportunity for their future. Together with our community partners, we’re working tirelessly every day to make Boston a better place for all.”