Standing in solidarity with Black Lives Matter in Hewlett

Roughly 100 people gathered in the parking lot of the Hewlett Long Island Rail Road station to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement for a peaceful candlelight vigil that commemorated black lives that have been lost due to police brutality.

The vigil on June 9 was organized by Hewlett High School alumni Gabrielle Barnes '18, Jessica Segarra '19 and current Hewlett High senior Sofia Pesantez. Barnes, a black female and current student at Yale University, explained why she decided to help organize the vigil. 

“We’re here to commemorate the black lives lost at the hands of those who were meant to protect them,” Barnes said. “We want this vigil to be solemn, but also a deep reflection on what is going on.” 

Barnes added that while she has been a proud Hewlett resident since 2012, she has been subject to subtle racism during her youth. “Though we are able to have a peaceful assembly like this in Hewlett, it doesn’t mean that racism doesn't pervade in this community and the broader Long Island area,” she said. “We are also here to fight that.”

Protests and demonstrations have been occurring across Long Island for roughly three weeks after the Memorial Day death of George Floyd. This includes a protest march on June 7 that moved through Cedarhurst and Lawrence. 

Floyd was allegedly pinned to the ground by the leg of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with murder second-degree and fired from his job. The three other officers at the scene were charged with aiding and abetting murder second-degree, and were also fired.  

With Chauvin allegedly having Floyd pinned to the ground for over eight minutes, the vigil included a moment of silence for that same amount of time. Some participants kneeled during the allotted time. 

“Think about what you were reflecting on during these past eight plus minutes,” Pesantez said. “Now think about what was going through George Floyd’s head during that time. What happened to him just simply cannot happen.” 

While Segarra was grateful for the attendance, she noted that young people need to make their presence more known in the voting booth. 

“Everyone here can vote as this is a privilege that not everyone has,” she said. “This privilege is historically underused by people ages 18 to 24. So to my fellow youngsters, go out and vote.”

The togetherness shown by community members inspired Barnes. “I thank you all so much for coming out tonight,” Barnes said to the crowd. “It's beautiful to see that we can all come together peacefully but resiliently just so that we can all stand up for justice.”