Gilford comes out to support Chloe

GILFORD — About 200 people walked a half-mile from the high school to a ball field Wednesday evening, shouting “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace,” in an event organized by a young woman who has experienced her share of turmoil in recent days.

Chloe Bourgeois, who is black, wanted to raise awareness about racism in a non-confrontational way — “educate, not humiliate,” as she put it.

The community came out to support the 20-year-old Gilford High School graduate after her “Black Lives Matter” signs were torn from telephone poles, a racist post was placed on Facebook and someone complaining about the signs called the police to her house.

Wearing a white shirt with a black butterfly, she spoke into a small pink megaphone at the start of the march to describe the route and tell everyone how pleased she was at the turnout.

Near the front of the procession, two people carried a large yellow sign, proclaiming, “It’s Time to LOVE.” Nearly everyone was wearing a face covering. People pushed children in strollers.

They walked along Belknap Mountain Road, past the Pine Grove Cemetery and through a neighborhood dotted with signs urging racial equality, some with quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.

After her signs were torn down last week, Bourgeois asked people if she could place signs on their property, and many people allowed her to do so. Others volunteered to make more signs.

Standing in a gazebo at the field, Bourgeois told the crowd about an incident at a place where she once worked.

“When I was 16, a man asked for his coffee the same color as my skin while I was working as a barista,” she said. “I expressed discomfort and he ended up waiting outside for me to take the trash out at night.

“When I was 19, men yelled awful sexual things about me out their car window at the Walmart parking lot. They exclaimed they liked light-skinned girls and proceeded to follow me through the store, harassing me, yelling obscenities, and I was told they went so far as to search for me through the parking lot afterwards.”

She said that in school it felt like her skin color was all anybody saw.

“This was especially true in middle school,” she said. “Kids would deliver their favorite black jokes to me, ask for n-word passes and made it very clear that I was different from them.”

She said she hesitated to speak up at the time for fear she would lose friends.

“Our schools have a responsibility to educate on diversity, and give students an accurate representation of history,” Bourgeois said.

She praised the Gilford Police Department, but said some other departments do not measure up.

Bourgeois said inadequate training and abuse of power have led to unnecessary officer-involved deaths of black people nationwide.

She listed some of those who have died, including Elijah McClain, Ezell Ford, Tanisha Anderson, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Bettie Jones, Philando Castile, Atatiana Jefferson, Dominique Clayton and Breonna Taylor.

Also speaking at the event was Jaylin Tulley, of Gilmanton.

She said an adult white man called her the n-word while she looked at Oreo cookies as a 7-year-old.

“Everyone here needs to care for all black lives, not just the ones who are dead,” she said.

“Violent police deaths and racially motivated killings of black citizens are the very tragic end result of an inherently racist, unequal and oppressive system. However, violence against black people does not start with death. It manifests and starts long before that.

“Racism and the ignorance that comes with it is invisible and damaging.”

Black people end up afraid of police, she said.

Tulley mentioned the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old man who died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a police officer kept his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes.

“George Floyd’s death was the product of a deeply flawed and prejudiced system that works to silence black voices and drop black bodies,” she said.

The final speaker was Chiekh Kamara, 21, a black man from Senegal, who came to Laconia at age 1 and lived in the area for 14 years before moving to Atlanta.

He praised those who came to the rally.

“As I look in this crowd, I see predominantly white people and what it shows me is that you guys sacrifice and you guys are unselfish and you guys realize there is a problem out here that is bigger than you and even though it may not affect you, it may not have anything to do with you, it may not be in your community, you still take it seriously and take time out of your day to come here and represent and show your support. And for that, I thank you.”

Police Chief Anthony Bean Burpee and several other officers were nearby.

The police chief praised Bourgeois as a mature, intelligent and composed young woman, The chief has met with her and her mother. He estimated the crowd at 200 to 250 people.

"It was a good crowd, respectful, polite and well-behaved," he said. "Everybody was in a good mood and supportive. Many thanked us for being there."