Upper East Side for Black Lives Matter is holding its 50th consecutive night of vigils (pics)
Upper East Side for Black Lives Matter has been holding daily vigils in Charles Schurz Park for the past 49 days; Spike Lee has previously been in attendance, and Tuesday (7/21) will be their fiftieth. They begin at 7 PM ET each night, and here's the schedule for this week:
For Monday's (7/20) vigil, comedian Maeve Higgins spoke. Prior to her appearance, she had posted on Instagram, "white people please come out. This is our fight too. I had a lot of thoughts/feelings when the organizers asked me to speak at my local vigil and march tomorrow as you can imagine, but ultimately the Upper East Side is 83% white and as beneficiaries of white supremacy we need to figure our shit out AND because none of us are free until all of us are free!"
She shared some pictures from the vigil afterwards, writing, "We see from federal forces unleashed in Portland that the govt is afraid AND the seven year journey of @blklivesmatter shows us that this is not a moment, it’s a movement. Yesterday was another heatwave here and I spoke about how climate justice = racial justice. I also mentioned that whiteness is so seductive and so powerful it can blind us but it’s a privilege and a trip to see it for what it is!"
The vigil also included some guest speakers from the community, and a march around Carl Schurz Park toward Gracie Mansion, and back to 86th St and East End. Check out some pictures in the gallery below.
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photos by Sachyn Mital