Aisha Scott hopes parents bring their children to see the exhibit, “Black Lives Matter: A Child’s Vision” exhibit through Oct. 31 at the Orland Park Public Library.
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She wants parents and children to talk about racism and why June 12, 2020 was a historic day in the south suburbs.
“There has been a lot of positive feedback,” Scott said of community reaction to the exhibit, which opened Sept. 2. “For the most part people seem to be really excited about the history that was made in Orland Park.”
Scott and other organizers will welcome visitors to an opening reception at 7 p.m. Friday at the library, 14921 S. Ravinia Ave., Orland Park.
Scott and her husband brought their young daughter to the peaceful protest 27 months ago at La Grange Road and 143rd Street. More than 300 people participated, she said. Young children seemed to struggle to comprehend what was happening at the time, she said.
“It seemed like some of the kids didn’t understand,” Scott said. “They did not understand why there seemed to be issues between Black people and white people that would lead to the killing of African Americans in such a way by police officers.”
The June 2020 protest in Orland Park was less than three weeks after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd May 25, 2020, by kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes.
Floyd’s death followed the March 2020 killing by police of Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker who was shot by police officers in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, during a botched raid on her apartment.
Authorities waited months before arresting three white men who were later convicted in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a young Black man who was shot while jogging through a Georgia neighborhood in February 2020.
Civil unrest erupted in the south suburbs and across the country over the Memorial Day weekend that year. Thieves looted stores and arsonists torched buildings. Citizens demanded accountability for police officers who used excessive force, escalated conflicts with subjects and disproportionately targeted people of color for arrest.
The library exhibit uses photography and documentary interviews to chronicle the peaceful 2020 demonstration in Orland Park. The exhibit features digital narratives with three children, a teenager and five adults sharing their reasons for protesting.
“Because the three children were all under the age of 10 at the time, I wanted to know if their families had had conversations with them about race and racism,” Scott said. “Did they even understand what was going on at the time?”
People attending the exhibit can scan a QR code that will direct them to a website where they can listen to interviews with demonstrators or read text of their responses to interview questions.
“What was special about that event, that protest, was that it was specifically targeted for families,” Scott said. “Even for the exhibition, I really want families and children to come out so they can hear other children’s perspectives.”
In its coverage of the 2020 event, the Daily Southtown spoke with Geoff Epperson, whose 9-year-old son, Nathan, inspired the gathering.
“He wanted to have a protest and be civically engaged,” Geoff Epperson said at the time. “The initial idea was to just march around our neighborhood, but then it grew.”
For some at the time, Orland Park seemed like an odd place to hold an event to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Just a few years earlier, former Mayor Dan McLaughlin unveiled a controversial design for the 2017 official village sticker residents had to buy for their vehicles.
The design featured a black and white U.S. flag with a blue stripe running horizontally below the field of stars and the words “Orland Park Supports Police” across the top. The design is often called the “thin blue line” flag.
Orland Park then backtracked and offered an official village sticker with a different design amid concerns about messaging. At the time, I wrote that the Black Lives Matter debate should not be framed as an “either or” question, that citizens ought be able to support law enforcement officers and expect professionalism, transparency and accountability at the same time.
I mentioned the village sticker controversy to Scott when we spoke by phone. She said many of the more than 58,000 people who live in Orland Park may have supported the “thin blue line” sticker design but many others did not.
“A lot of times when people think of Orland Park they think of exactly what you just mentioned,” she said. “I think this exhibition shows that there is another narrative. We had over 300 people attend the protest in 2020. Even from that, we had people who were brave enough to say, ‘I don’t mind being interviewed, I want my story to be told as well.'”
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Debate about supporting police versus Black Lives Matter seems to be another culture war wedge issue used to divide Americans. Last week, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, the Republican nominee for the 6th Congressional District seat in November’s election, condemned the Downers Grove Public Library for inviting a drag performer to host a bingo event for teens.
Pekau did not immediately respond Wednesday to messages sent to the mayor’s office at Village Hall and to his congressional campaign. I sought the mayor’s reaction to the Black Lives Matter exhibit at his town’s public library and asked whether he planned to attend.
In addition to Scott’s digital narratives, the exhibit features documentary photography by Naomi Hill, portrait photography by Peter Bosy and Black Lives Matter-themed paintings by Ariane Radcliff.
Natalie Moore of WBEZ-FM (91.5), Chicago’s National Public Radio affiliate, will host a panel discussion about the exhibit at 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at the library. Panelists will include Scott, Geoff and Nathan Epperson, and Tresha Miller, who participated in the 2020 protest.
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.