LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — Hundreds of demonstrators congregated at the Livingston Manor Free Library Saturday, June 5 at about 11 a.m. The crowd spanned generations, from toddlers holding signs atop their parents’ shoulders to the elderly chanting “Black lives matter” from the sidelines.

Sienna Dutcher, Willa Schweitzer and Osei Helper—all 15 years old—organized the march down Main Street toward the Catskill Brewery where they held a vigil. Dutcher said the idea was initially conceived as a chance for local youth to make a statement on police brutality, despite not being old enough to drive to some of the larger protests going on nationwide.

“I have a lot of friends, especially young friends, who have the same opinion as me and we just wanted to express it to the town, especially to all the city people who come down so that they can see… that we’re not hateful,” she said.

Dutcher, Schweitzer and Helper started a group chat on Snapchat hoping to round up “like five other people,” not knowing it would snowball into a much larger community event.

Kira H., one of the speakers at the vigil who preferred not to give out her last name, called the turnout “really powerful.”

“It does show that small-town America is changing, and if small-town America can change, then I think all of America can change,” she said.

As they made their way down the road, the marchers carried potted flowers with the names of people of color who have been killed by police officers. Helper’s mother, a florist, provided the flowers.

Police presence was minimal throughout the demonstration. A few sheriff’s cruisers were parked off to the side as the marchers made their way down Main Street, but the officers watched and waved as people walked by.

Once they arrived in front of the brewery, the crowd took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds in silence in remembrance of George Floyd. Afterward, Gem Helper, Osei’s sister, told the crowd that she is consistently baffled when people respond to racial injustice by saying, “This is not the America I know.”

“I have lived in this country for two decades and some change. I was born here. This is the only America I know,” she said. “If you already take pleasure in the promise of the American experience, then you understand how sweet it can be; so why not share it?”

Kira H. read off a list of 63 victims of racially-charged violence between the deaths of Emmet Till and George Floyd. In the middle of reading, she was interrupted by a man in a pickup truck who shouted, “Make America great again.” The demonstrators responded by chanting “black lives matter” until he drove away.

Schweitzer said that pushing the message of the Black Lives Matter movement is especially important in a small community like Livingston Manor.

“When we feel belittled, we’re still able to rise and speak for what we believe in,” she said.