All community members are welcome to join the GSA in celebration of their own LGBTQ+ identity or in solidarity with those who identify this way. In addition to proudly carrying the banner that our Board of Trustees purchased for us last year, the GSA group is making individual signs this year to draw more attention to a range of issues faced by this demographic.

We'll meet in the staging area in the parking lot on Hampton Avenue between 11:00 and 11:30, across from Northampton Brewery - there is no official Academy vehicle bringing students to the event, though carpooling is always a viable option. As a walking contingent, we are specifically to report to the green staging area (see the attached image). The image implies that we need to arrive precisely at 11:00, which Ms. B-Z will do to check us in, but there is a lot of standing around after that, and it's fine to trickle in a little later (as long as you do so before 11:30).

The parade starts right at 12:00, and we walk from the staging area, up Old South Street, right on Main Street, and down to the fairgrounds. Parents, please note that this event is only chaperoned through the parade -- once we get to the fairgrounds, we part ways, and students will no longer be under Academy oversight.

In addition to keynote speaker Anika Nailah we have lined up a growing list of exciting and engaging breakout session leaders including anti-racism educator and activist Kent Alexander who has dedicated his career to exploring issues relating to racial injustice, with a particular emphasis on how oppression is held in the body. Since serving as the former Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Elms College, he now facilitates social-justice related workshops for a number of organizations; attorney Buz Eisenberg, who is well-known for his work to get eight (8) Guantanamo prisoners released, many of whom were held for years without charge, and many of whom were granted Petitions for Clemency by President Obama  that were prepared by Atty. Eisenberg and his co-counsel, Bill Newman. A frequent lecturer, Professor Eisenberg is nationally recognized for his human righs and social justice work, and has taught courses in law and government at GCC for 16 years; attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud who is also a commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women and in that role advocates before the state legislature to enact laws responsive to the needs of women and girls; Shela Linton, a radical, black and indigenous, queer activist, community organizer and advocate for social justice. A native of Brattleboro, VT, single mother of two and a new grandma, her current initiatives are helping to developing the Black Lives Matter Vermont Chapter, and coordinating the I am Vermont Too photo story project; challenging racial micro aggressions in Vermont. She has been nationally recognized for her work with the Vermont Workers' Center and The Root Social Justice Center in 2014 by Glamour Magazine as a Hometown Hero and in 2015 by The Meredith Viera Show for her contributions to her family, work and community; Mel Motel, founder of the Just Schools Project, an organization dedicated to supporting restorative practices in schools. Prior to founding the organization, Mel coordinated a restorative justice-based program with formerly incarcerated adults at the Brattleboro Community Justice Center, and organized around issues affecting incarcerated people and their families; Meg Mott, Professor of Politics at Marlboro College and President-Elect of the New England Political Science Association; attorney Luke Ryan, who concentrates his practice in criminal defense at the trial and appellate level and in civil rights litigation and serves as a cooperating attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts.

The Walking the Talk for Racial Justice conference aims to mobilize all young people (and associated adults) to create more inclusive communities. In a collaborative space of academics and anti-racism activists, participants will have the opportunity to discover their own role in creating a racially equitable society.  Conference organizers believe that young people, who have inherited a system of white supremacy, must take collective action to dismantle it. It is imperative that young people create a future which actualizes this area’s values of freedom and opportunity for everyone. This conference strives to provide participants with the resources that they need to pursue that work.

Community members interesting in supporting this effort should contact Nora Bates Zale. To register please visit our website.