One student spoke out against what they see as bias in our school and local community, “All of the injustice that I’ve seen over the entirety of my life, from my family even, it’s frankly disgusting and I want to do whatever I can to help the people around me.” Another student expressed their perspective, “Saying that a person’s life matters shouldn’t be a political statement, it’s ridiculous that it has to be a hashtag.” Some speakers were more vulgar in their speech, one student saying “I’m tired of this police system that kills people. All cops are b******* and f*** the police.”

One of the primary speakers was BHS sophomore El-Sara Duopu. When asked how it felt to see her peers there in support of the movement, Duopu said, “It was really moving because even though not even half the school was there, at least some people had the courage to decide to go.” As for those who didn’t choose to attend the walkout, Duopu said “It depends on your reason but if you didn’t go just because your friends didn’t go or just because you’re close-minded, you should re-evaluate your values and what you actually think being a good citizen of the United States. A lot of people who didn’t go see themselves as patriots, but fighting for your fellow citizens rights shouldn’t be something that is made fun of or ignored.” 

Although Duopu found the support of the movement in our community inspiring, she believes we still have a long way to go. Duopu encouraged her fellow students to stand up against bias. “Basically just not having any tolerance for it.” Duopu said “The more lenient you are with people the more they think it’s okay. If someone is ashamed of behaving that way, they’re not gonna do it. When you cast it aside – that goes for staff and students too – being silent is the equivalent of partaking in whatever someone’s doing that is negative.”

Some students within the school hold contrasting opinions but respect the cause of the protest. Sophomore Malaki Cabanting made a widely viewed snapchat post with a photograph of the walkout entitled “What bull s***” When later asked to elaborate on his feelings towards the protest he stated “I am not saying it was pointless, but I feel like it [police brutality] doesn’t really affect us in Buffalo, so I don’t think it [the walkout] was necessary here”. Elaborating on his controversial post, Cabanting said “I wanted to state my opinion. I thought that people would agree with me, and sometimes people are too afraid to say stuff that they believe in.”

There has been further talk of other potential walkouts for various causes but plans have not been finalized.

Facilitators from youth activism organization Minnesota Teen Activists met participants near the student parking lot and encouraged some to go in front of the group to share anecdotes of experiences of racism and prejudice in the school and in the wider community. The crowd cheered and applauded with each new speaker.

Many of the speakers touched on the subjects of violent police confrontations, but also spoke about of bullying, homophobia, and general discrimination toward minority groups. Several of the speeches were punctuated with explicit language. As they spoke, some community members looked on from outside of the group. Teachers and staff members did not participate in the walkout, though some school personnel and the school resource officer were on-site for supervision and safety reasons.

A small contingency of counter-demonstrators briefly drove back-and-forth around The Rock, some with messages like “Back the Blue” painted on their vehicles while playing music loudly. Shortly after they began, the counter-demonstrators seemed to disappear, either heading back to the school or leaving the grounds entirely.

The walkout ended in a moment of silence at 1:47, a symbolic time commemorating the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop, days before in Brooklyn Center. Afterward, students returned to their fourth block classes. Teachers were told that students were accountable for any missed work and class time.

Prom this year will be Grand March only and you must sign up to attend. Meaning, there will be no dance or other activities. When asked what the Grand March will look like this year, Mr. Mischke said that “the Grand March should be pretty typical.” It should be easy to follow social distancing regulations and stay safe with the normal Grand March layout. This Grand-March-only Prom will only allow seniors who sign up to attend. Each senior participating may bring one guest and that guest must be a BHS student.

Homecoming Coronation is going to happen directly after Prom and the audience will consist of the seniors who went to Prom.

“After the Grand March, we’re going to offer up the opportunity to go into the [Main Gym] stands… and then we’ll announce the King and Queen, and then the following week will be Homecoming week,” said Mischke.

Homecoming week will still have activities for all students to participate in.

“We are targeting different activities throughout the week with student councils working on Homecoming Week, dress-up days, things like that,” Mischke said. “And then we’ll have a ton of spring activities at home that week.”

One of the activities planned for Homecoming Week is a lacrosse game rather than the normal Homecoming football game, but there will be no homecoming dance this year due to space and social distancing restrictions.

The plan for the graduation ceremony this year is still somewhat unknown because the district can’t know what the restrictions and state mandates will be by then. The district is planning for several possible scenarios in order to be prepared to make graduation happen. It is possible that the restrictions will not allow the whole graduating class to be together. If this is the case, graduation will be split into two separate ceremonies, one for the first half of the alphabet, and the other for the second half. Each graduate will be able to invite two people.

“So as far as what the graduation will look like, ceremonies [will take place] on the field, probably with two guests, probably sitting in…like a little pod of three, and then that spread out throughout the field,” Mischke said.

The plan is to hold the ceremony outside on the football field. However, in case of inclement weather, the school also has a plan for an indoor ceremony.

As the events get closer, plans will be finalized and more information will be announced. For now, expect a Grand March/Homecoming Coronation event, a lacrosse Homecoming game, and possibly two graduation ceremonies happening on Bison Field West.

Photos by Matthew Scherber