On Wednesday, Black students in the San Diego Unified School District raised a Black Lives Matter flag to mark the beginning of Black History Month.
Cameron Campbell, 11 is a determined young man. The Bird Rock Elementary School 5th grader and his younger sister were selected to speak at a ceremony outside the San Diego Unified School District building. He, his sister, and other students then raised the Black Lives Matter flag.
"I am feeling good that Black people are being appreciated and that more people can see the Black Lives Matter flag," he said.
Campbell is one of a few Black kids at his school, which comes with mixed feelings. "I kind of feel lonely like Iām the only Black kid but at the same time, I have a lot of White friends that are kind to me and make me feel appreciated as a Black kid."
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He is old enough to know about George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and now Tyre Nichols, all of their names highlighting the apprehension about police, experienced by people of color.
Henry Anderson, also spoke at Wednesday's ceremony. The Millennial Tech Middle School 7th grader, who goes to a predominantly Black school says he is apprehensive of police.
"I get scared sometimes honestly," he said. "Sometimes when I think about it, I could just be turning the corner with a drink in my hand and a cop could pull me over because he thinks it could be a gun or something."
But Anderson is also optimistic and wants to use his voice to change the world.
"Since I was 5 years old, I wanted to be the president," Anderson said.
He spends a lot of time speaking to others about why his and others' Black Lives Matter. For Anderson and others, the San Diego Unified event symbolized more than just raising a flag.
"For me, it meant that our community and our school care about Black people and they care about how we feel and how we communicate and engage in our schools."
On January 24, the board of education adopted a resolution honoring Black History Month. From now until the end of February, the BLM flag will fly above district headquarters. The raising of the flag was not a first for the district. The district raised flags for Black Lives Matter, Pride and the transgender community in 2020, ahead of a board meeting officially recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday.
