Passaic Preparatory Academy students are protesting, donating, and signing petitions to support the Black Lives Matter movement, pushing for justice for the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others who died as a result of police brutality.

There were two local protests on June 2, in Clifton and Paterson. Clifton’s protestors marched down Clifton Avenue to Passaic City Hall after meeting at Clifton City Hall. See The Boulevard’s PHOTO GALLERY, above.

Prep senior Gila Gershman marched along with other Prep students to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which hopes to end systemic racism against black people.

“I feel like we have been putting this issue off for far too long, and now is the time to start coming together and working together to fix this,” Gershman told The Boulevard. “Systematic inequalities impact each and every one of us. Whether we have an advantage or disadvantage, we are all affected.”

Nereida Delgado, Prep junior, participated in Paterson’s protest. Delgado attended to push forward the need for change in the U.S. justice system.

“Try kneeling on one knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Is it hard? That’s the amount of time the police officer, who murdered George Floyd, was kneeling on his neck for,” said Delgado. “If we as a community don’t decide when enough is enough, we will be taking steps backwards.”

Some of the protests occurring in the nation have been met with more police brutality and tear-gassing.

“It is extremely unfortunate that individuals who fight for justice are tear gassed and abused by officers while they are peacefully exercising their first amendment rights,” said Prep junior Madeline Urena. “It is beyond unfair and disgusting that there are individuals who use their power to bring others down and who refuse to support this ongoing war for justice.”

The Boulevard reached out to Mr. Alessi, Prep law studies teacher and former lawyer, to weigh in on the protesting, rioting, and looting occurring in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“Protesting is your right as an American,” he said. “It is so important they jammed it in there in the very First Amendment in the Bill of Rights with some other incredibly important fundamental rights.  You 1,000% have the right to peacefully assemble and protest your grievances.”

Other Prep students showed their support and solidarity by engaging in Blackout Tuesday the same day. Blackout Tuesday was a social media movement where people posted black squares on their social media pages to help raise awareness for police brutality disproportionately affecting black people.

According to Al Jazeera, “Black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.”

Blackout Tuesday was hashtagged more than 28 million times on Instagram. More than 10 million signed Change.org’s “Justice for George Floyd” petition. 

Some Prep students called this “performative activism,” a term used to describe activism in order to increase social popularity rather than engaging in action to help raise awareness.

“A black square isn’t going to fix the racial discrimination within our system of government,” said Prep junior Michelle Carpinteyro. “This is not just a hashtag. You better have educated yourselves, signed petitions, and/or donated. Be aware of the movement.”

While all four officers involved in the killing of George Floyd were arrested by June 4, the officers involved in the killings of Breonna Taylor and many others have not been arrested. 

Urena also added her support for raising awareness through peaceful action to achieve justice for countless others. 

“The ignorant individuals that still exist with their supremacist views may be stubborn and impossible to educate, but it is the duty of the people to spread love and recognize the need for change,” she said.

Anyone, including Prep students, wishing to express their support for the Black Lives Matter movement can sign petitions and donate. They can call, email, and text their representatives urging something be done to attain it. For more information on how to do so, go to blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/.