Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern high school students decided to take a stand against racial injustice. Dozens of students, most of them recently graduated seniors, conducted Fishers Equity Awareness Demonstration, a peaceful protest held at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater lawn June 1.
Dozens of signs lined the amphitheater, and in addition to the protest, the group also worked to raise funds for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Black Lives Matter, The Atlanta Solidarity Fund and The Bail Project, Inc.
Fishers graduate Jackson Bell comprised the idea late May 29.
“I had seen a lot of support for movements like this, and I felt like there was a lot of momentum, and I decided I would love to move it into a physical movement because it’s more impactful than a social media post,” he said. “There was a great group of people who really have taken a huge leadership role. I may be the person who had the idea, but a lot of people had a lot more impact in terms of coordination, and we found some great voices who weren’t just a white kid like me.”
Bell, who is leaving to attend college at IU Bloomington in the fall, said he thought the demonstration was the class of 2020’s swan song.
“Even though this is a really white neighborhood, the support has been incredible,” he said.
