BLM Rally Call: Ballots Matter

Hundreds of Newhallville residents united with a march and rally to call for local voting, equality, and empowerment.

The Newhallville United event was hosted at the Lincoln Bassett School Sunday by community leaders looking to share local resources with residents and get neighbors registered and motivated to vote. The NAACP registered residents to vote on-site.

The event started with a half-mile march from Goodrich and Newhall Street to Lincoln Bassett School. Community members walked to the beat of a drumline followed by a caravan of 50 cars through Newhallville headed to the rally.

The Newhallville United initiative is a collaboration among dozens of neighborhood resources including 15 churches, youth services, after school programs, and more.

Nearly 30 vendors offered community members groceries, blood pressure checks, Covid-19 testing, voter and census registration, period products, health and wellness information, and kids books. Hundreds stopped by the outdoor marketplace where activities for young kids, food, and information on local resources were offered.

Organizers also celebrated hitting 144,000 meals distributed throughout Newhallville during the Covid pandemic. The Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center set up a walk-up Covid testing site.

Drummers Lesly Crockett, Jasmine Reed, Ryshon Menafee, Myran Darden led the march for jobs and justice to Lincoln Bassett School with their beats echoing through Newhallville. ​“We matter,” they chanted as they walked and Dixwell residents cheered them on from their front porches and windows.

State Rep. Robyn Porter and State Sen. Gary Winfield shared with the crowd the process of the state House passing the bill, HB 6004 An Act Concerning Police Accountability (AACPA) on Friday.

“Your team is whoever is out there doing the work for you. Democrat, Republican, independent … it doesn’t matter. What matters is: Do they speak Black Lives Matter into policy? And when they don’t do that they’re not part of the team,” said Winfield.

Porter called out the names of Tamir Rice, Malik Jones, Breonna Taylor, Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Jayson Negron, Corbin Cooper.

“There was no due process for them,” she said. ​“This legislation says, ​‘You know what? You can have your immunity as long as you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. But what should happen is when you run into what we call the bad apples, bad actors, there should be some checks and balances on that.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal joined the marchers down Goodrich Street. ​“These young leaders are inspiring to me. They are who I keep in mind while fighting in Washington,” he said.

Pastor Nicardo Delahaye of the Faith 7th Day Adventist Church in Hartford came to stand in solidarity with Newhallville.

“We won’t have the realization of all lives mattering until Black lives matter as well,” he said. Delahaye said even at 32 there are times he is afraid of interacting with the police. Delahaye said he worries for his 1‑year-old son.

Mother of two Salamato Mohammad heard of the equality and empowerment rally last week and marked it down in her calendar. She stopped by all the tables and collected about 10 books for her 7 and 8‑year-old sons, a recipe for a drink to boost immune systems, and multiple handouts from local organizations.

“This is is new ​‚and I hope it happens again. It makes it easier for us to learn whats going on in the neighborhood at one time. I see things are changing,” Mohammad said.

Jennette Sykes, founder of The Perfect Blend, a nonprofit organization that focuses on youth services and mentorship, debuted its eight-week youth grief and loss program. While at the rally 36 people signed up for updates on the organization. The program’s second session of the program, focused on meditation, nutrition, and healthy living will begin on Aug. 18.

Organizer and Mount Zion Education Director Tamara Nathan-Oputa said the Newhallville rally will become an annual event.

The Sunday rally was the launch of Newhallville United, said Devin Avshalom-Smith, founder of the Newhallville Community Action Network. In the near future, the initiative will host webinars for the community to learn about financial literacy, employment opportunities, and voting. ​“Newhallville United is made up of the community’s social justice partners. We have come together to make an even larger impact and connect the whole neighborhood,” he said.

Four hundred seventy-two bags of groceries, which included bread, grits and pancake mix, fresh fruits and vegetables, and food items for pasta salad, were distributed at the rally. Each grocery bag contained 20 meals, said Newhallville Management Team Chair Kim Harris.

The Newhallville United Facebook page will offer updates on the upcoming webinars and workshops for the community. On Aug. 1 the first workshop about voting will be hosted by the Registrar of Voters Office. The free workshops will be hosted on Zoom. Zoom sites at local churches will be offered in the community for residents without access to the internet to tune in.

Donnell Durden led a crew of local youth around the rally taking video and doing interviews for Newhallville TV, a community Youtube channel.

“We came out here to make noise about being united,” said Harris.

Partnering Churches will be able to expand their programming outside of the church and further into the community. ​“This is chance for churches to be focused on ministry and not just be individual,” said Nathan-Oputa.

The Music Note Kids Club Inc., a Hamden-based after-school program that combines educational material on STEM, arts, and ecology in its program for youth joined the community Sunday. Founder Joseph Inigo brought along free books, musical instruments, and puppets to introduce the kids to a form of self-expression. ​“It’s not only fun for them, but it’s a form of therapy,” he said.

Inigo invited kids as young as 4 to host a puppet show about anything they wanted. Inigo’s introduction of puppetry to the youth is meant to also teach the kids skills like hosting, acting, and voicing. ​“These are real skills they can get jobs with,” Inigo said. ​“We want to provide them with equal opportunity and equal knowledge.”

Avshalom-Smith was proud to see hundreds of dedicated Newhallville residents and organizations Sunday. Avshalom-Smith said the organizing team’s main goals were to spread awareness of the importance of voting, filling out the census, and linking neighbors with community resources.

“Poverty and violence lend itself to hopeless but in Newhallville we saw a lot of hope today,” he said.

Newhallville resident RA GODDESS QUEEN brought her three kids out to the rally after a flyer was posted on her Bassett Street residence. While reading the flyer on her door the words equality, united, and helping hands stood out to her.

“I love that there are churches out here for us,” she said. ​“I wanted to bring my kids along to experience quality in our neighborhood. We deserve it out here.”