Black. Lives. Matter. We see these words everywhere in our suburban communities, on signs in store windows and on front lawns, on flags flying on Town Commons and at places of worship, and in graffiti scrawled on the side of buildings. 

Throughout the fall of 2020 NFSJ conducted outreach to explore what this phrase means to a diverse group of individuals who live, work and/or worship in the town of Winchester. To open the conversation, we asked for personal reflections on not just what BLM means, but about what community support for BLM would look like. We also surveyed leaders of Town Departments, Communities of Faith and local nonprofits, to learn about existing and planned support for BLM and antiracist policies and practices. Brief descriptions of these activities can be found here.

The information we received has been reported in our newsletter across five articles:

–What does ‘Black Lives Matter’ Mean to Us? by Tachera and Kenny Roberts (also published in the Winchester Star/Wicked Local)

–What BLM Means to Me by Mayra Rodriguez-Howard

–What does BLM Mean to You? (also published in the Winchester Star/Wicked Local)

–Supporting BLM and Police (also published in the Winchester Star/Wicked Local)

–Addressing Racism in our Suburban Community (also published in the Winchester Star/Wicked Local)

We hope to harness this research to advance antiracism work in Winchester, and we’ve made this project available to the wider public in the hopes that it will help you on your journey as well. None of us can do this work alone. Please feel free to reach out to NFSJ at office@nfsj.org.