By Victoria Iparraguirre
Manhattan School of Music ‘22 and LiveGirl Communications Intern
While 2020 has been a rocky year for all of us in many regards, I can fully say it has been one of the best years of my life in terms of personal growth. With all of this time on our hands, my ideas and creativity have gone into full bloom. With the recent events of the Black Lives Matter movement, I was so incredibly moved by the support my city has shown and as a result, I was inspired to hold my own event.
My goal through my music career and as an artist is to use my platform to educate and fight for causes that mean something to me, so this event was a first step towards that goal. In this fight for equality for our country’s Black community, as BLM allies we need to not only educate ourselves, but help to create safe spaces where BIPOC can share their experiences, stories, and most importantly their voices - what better way to do that than through music, poetry, dance and speech?
After attending Hearts For Floyd – an event in which Stamford residents were invited to create hearts out of paper with messages of peace to be hung around the city - I realized the power that art has in bringing people together to heal and understand each other. As soon as I got home I messaged the organizers about how to go about planning such an event, and impulsively got to work on my vision with only two weeks to plan everything in time for Friday, June 19th. I wanted to create a platform in which the Stamford community could come together to celebrate, learn about and embrace our Black neighbors, and most notably to educate themselves on Juneteenth - a holiday that is sadly omitted from the education system’s history lessons. I had no idea this Holiday even existed until middle school when a friend explained to me why it’s such an important day not only in Black history, but American history.
That is when Speak Your PEACE – my open mic troupe was born. On the day of the event, the Stamford community came out and shared their authentic selves and stories. Hundreds of people of all colors, ages, sexual orientations, shapes and sizes came out to support the performers and created a sense of unity that we all need in this current climate, all while being respectful of social distancing. While I had many people sign up in advance, many more were inspired to sign up after watching others. Mayor Martin also joined us at the opening ceremony to read a Juneteenth Proclamation which stated that as of Friday June 19th 2020, the city of Stamford officially recognizes Juneteenth as a Holiday.
There are many different ways and forms of protest (and important to note that not one reigns supreme!). Whether you choose to be out on the streets marching, making phone calls or composing emails, everything helps progress the movement forward. Thinking about hosting your own BLM event? Simple! Have an idea, believe in yourself, and make it happen. Ok – well maybe not THAT simple but having confidence in your vision is half the battle.
Here’s a few tips and tricks I learned in the process of making my open mic vision into a reality!
Get a team together of like-minded, committed individuals
A HUGE lesson I learned in this process is that you can’t do everything alone. Unfortunately the people I asked to help out with this event bailed out last minute (yikes!) which meant I had to make phone calls, donation pick ups, meet with the venue and run the social media page all at once, and scramble to get a new team together two days before the event. Thankfully it all worked out for the best in the end, as my new team was ecstatic to be a part of something like this. It’s so important that you connect with people who support and believe in your vision! They will be there to help run things smoothly, willing to help reach out to any necessary contacts, and set the vibe for your event!Create a Social Media Page
Every single one of the protests, rallies and related events I’ve attended have been discovered through social media. Not to mention, many of these activist groups have their own pages used to update attendees on necessary information. This is also a great way to get in contact with other local activists who have some experience planning events. They will most likely always be more than willing to give advice, share contact information, provide resources and anything else you might need. I was able to get the sound system for my event from an up and coming Connecticut charity called Amplify Black Voices who generously paid for the equipment via GoFundMe. Without them, we would have had no sound! Many followers also reached out to offer donations of water and snacks as well. Use your page to engage with prospective attendees, get a head count of who’s coming and to get the community hype!Check with your venue BEFORE planning to host
This was absolutely the most confusing part of this entire process (and still is!). Numerous activist groups I engaged with said that they simply showed up to their venues and carried out their events, so I was ready to do the same. HOWEVER the weekend after I posted my flyers, the park in which I was planning to host at said the location I originally had planned on would not be available. Many emails, phone calls to city officials and meetings later, it turned out to be one big misunderstanding. It’s important to note that all public parks require a permit (which takes 30 days to get) for large gatherings. Thankfully the park I worked with was privately owned, and all that was required was a simple change of location. Another huge lesson I learned: DON’T SHOW UP ANYWHERE UNANNOUNCED. While this is the easiest way to protest, it’s also the most dangerous. Should something happen, the city is completely unaware of your event. Make sure to talk with, ask and inform your venue of your presence!Give Yourself Time
PLEASE don’t be impulsive like me especially if this is your first event! The Hearts for Floyd event was only 2 weeks prior to Juneteenth which of course – meant my spark of inspiration for this event gave me only 2 weeks to prepare for everything. As demonstrated above, life can throw you crazy curve balls and if luck isn’t on your side, your plans can be completely flipped upside down. It was a miracle that everything worked out the way it did, but my body is still somewhat recovering from the amount of stress it went through to make Speak Your PEACE possible.
If you would have told me months ago that I would have the confidence to organize something like this, I wouldn’t have believed you. But thanks to LiveGirl’s SHE WORKS internship program, I gained the confidence in myself, my abilities and my ideas – something I have struggled with in the past. I always knew my ideas were great, I just never believed in myself enough to make them a reality. This sisterhood of diverse, amazing women has helped to inspire and build me up in this crazy time, and made me realize that the first step towards becoming the leader I want to be is to take risks.
Through the process of organizing Speak Your Peace, I tackled two of my biggest goals – networking and putting myself out there. While it was admittedly terrifying at first, removing myself from my comfort zone has helped further my development as a leader, and most importantly helped me find the possibilities in being uncomfortable. There is no time like the present, and no better time than now to try things you usually would never see yourself doing!
