Hundreds gather in downtown Batavia for Black Lives Matter rally

BATAVIA – A rendition of the iconic song "Lean on Me" rang throughout the skies over the Peg Bond Center in downtown Batavia.

The melting pot of the Batavia community – with an estimated 400 or more individuals – was on full display at the peaceful Black Lives Matter sit-in rally on June 3.

A woman in a wheelchair held a cardboard sign that said "Hold racists accountable," while a white man weaved through the crowd with an American flag. An African-American man held an "I can't breathe" sign.

As the music progressed, some sang along; others clapped to the beat. The sea of signs continued: "I stand with you," "the time for change is now," "listen, learn love" and other messages beamed in the sunlight.

Hundreds, including Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke, City Administrator Laura Newman and Illinois 49th district Rep. Karina Villa were in attendance.

Recent Batavia graduate and 18-year-old Isabella Irish organized the sit-in rally in a matter of days.

"I thought that because of the recent events, a peaceful [rally] would really help people come together, especially in this town where there is a lot of prejudice; there's a lot of confusion with everything that's happening," Irish said prior to the start of the rally. "Just having everybody here together would be perfect,t so that they can listen, express themselves safely and [healthily]."

The peaceful demonstration is among the many across the country in the aftermath of video footage surfacing last week appearing to show a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of an African-American man, George Floyd, who later died.

The city of Batavia answered the challenge of getting the peaceful rally scheduled quickly and safely for all participants.

"It's been a challenge," City Administrator Laura Newman said prior to the rally start. "Due to the fact that there is a tremendous amount of civil unrest that has joined these otherwise peaceful events. We had to be ready for anything. And, we had a very short period of time to prepare."

"But, we have been involved in assisting neighboring communities in things that erupted in their cities," Newman continued. "So we think that we learned a great deal from that, and we tried to implement it into our plan to be ready for anything."

Recent Batavia High School graduates and former captains on the varsity volleyball team, Lauren Haefer and Priya Dave, were among the likely dozens of students showing their support.

"I think it's important because there's so much injustice going on in America," Haefer said. "And, just because someone's skin color is different doesn't mean they should be treated any differently in our society."

"Even though we live in a small town, I think it's important that we can all re-post stuff on social media...[and] we are getting out here and doing our part for the black community," Dave added.

A local Baptist pastor provided the crowd with a prayer, while several speeches ensued with messages of compassion, understanding and growth as a society.

Devin Couturier, 21, and a 2017 Batavia High School graduate, gave an estimated seven minute speech asking – among several questions to the crowd – "Why is black people kneeling during the [National] Anthem so offensive, but not a white man kneeling on someone's airway for eight minutes?", which elicited applause.

Couturier recently earned an associate's degree at Waubonsee Community College, and did previous work with civil rights groups.

"Once I got involved, I realized that sometimes white people listen to other white people more than they listen to people of color," Couturier told the Chronicle following the rally. "And, it's unfortunate. But, I'm willing to use my privilege to speak up."

"Because usually, ignorance is just rooted in not understanding and having a different perspective," Couturier continued. "It's my job to make other people see the perspective...people always tell me that what I'm doing does nothing, but this is proof that you can be in solidarity. You can be an ally and you can make a difference."

As the near two hour long rally concluded with no visible acts of violence or civil unrest, Irish left all with a message.

"Let's leave this place as we found it; only leaving the footprint of change," Irish said.