Amid more instances of police brutality and racism coming to light across the nation, Lauryn Evans and Sheta Schutz, freshmen, organized a walkout on Tuesday, May 18th to protest continuing racial injustices in the community. 

The walkout will begin at 12:45pm with speeches on the SHS front lawn by Amaya Andrews, freshman, and Bryan Terry, junior, and will then head to Atwater Park. At Atwater Park, seniors Hiwot Schutz and Alemitu Caldart will speak, and then songs by Black artists with important messages will be played over a sound system to wrap the event up. 

Part of the purpose of the walkout is to emphasize that the fight for racial justice did not end with the guilty conviction of Derek Chauvin on Apr. 20. 

“We want to raise awareness about it, and we want the community to know that even though a name is not trending anymore, [that] does not mean [police brutality] not happening,” Evans said.

Schutz also mentions that the walkout isn’t just to bring attention to national issues, but also to localize the message.

“[We want] to bring attention and awareness to youth and the voices of Black students and Black people and showing that [the] injustices that are happening in our world and in our communities are affecting people,” Schutz said.

Evans and Schutz have outlined specific actions they hope to see implemented by the village.

“Our demands [are] a better justice system for people of color, the Shorewood Police to stop doing traffic stops that are not safety related or necessary, subtracting funds from the Shorewood Police Department and then providing an opportunity for students of color to participate in the decision about equity. Instead of Black adults just talking about it all the time, or adults in general, have kids and students talk about it as well,” Evans said.

Andrews, one of the two SHS students who will speak on the front lawn, sees this as an opportunity to share their perspective.

“I hate public speaking but … I feel like I can’t really give [this opportunity] up because it’s my chance to talk about everything from a Black person’s perspective of what’s going on and mainly what’s going on in Shorewood, and just how we see it,” Andrews said.

While the walkout is being organized by SHS students, community members are invited to attend. Members of Shorewood Moving Forward have already reached out to say they will be there. Evans and Sheta also contacted Urban Underground, a Milwaukee youth activism organization, who have reached out to other local organizations who might be interested in attending.