By Jondi Gumz
Four young people with signs stood at the intersection of Mount Hermon Road and Scotts Valley Drive on the afternoon of June 19; raising awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement in a community that, at the last census, was 86 percent white with about 100 African-American residents.
Dallas Ross (from left), Sasha Nijor, Amar Nijor and Varija Nijor get their message out.
Sasha Nijor, 21, who grew up in Scotts Valley and is a student at UCLA, had the idea to take to the street with her friend and fellow Scotts Valley High alum Dallas Ross.
“We’re out to remind people it’s a movement,” Nijor said, holding a sign filled with names of black people killed by police in America such as George Floyd.
Nijor said she was inspired by her friend Jenny Johnson, co-organizer of the Black Lives Matter march June 10 involving an estimated 300 people.
At the rally that followed at MacDorsa Park, Brandon Smith, co-founder of Brandon Smith Audio Design after earning two degrees at Stanford and working as a product design engineer at Apple, spoke for nearly 30 minutes about what it feels like to be a black man in America.
He said he had been treated unjustly by police in Mountain View and his wife assumed to be a housekeeper because of the color of their skin.
Brandon Smith gives an emotional speech during a Black Lives Matter rally at MacDorsa Park on June 10.
Smith’s speech is recorded on the My Scotts Valley Facebook page.
Sasha Nijor was joined by Amar and Varija Nijor, her brother and sister-in-law visiting from San Diego.
Varija Nijor, 27, said raising awareness of Black Lives Matter is important work. She recommended “starting the conversation in your neighborhood.”
Amar Nijor, 28, a graduate of Scotts Valley High, said he was nervous at first to join his sister, but he could see and hear the support.
“There’s more good than bad, based on the honks,” he said.
The conversation has started at the city policy level.
“I was proud to participate in that march,” City Councilman Jim Reed said at the June 17 council meeting.
Scotts Valley is “ahead of the curve in (police) de-escalation,” he said. “We can always do better.”
He said the police chief and the mayor are taking a look at the city policies.
Mayor Randy Johnson said, “I’m thankful we were able to listen and observe — a conversation that was overdue.”
To view Brandon Smith’s speech, visit: www.facebook.com/MyScottsValley/posts/2995391917219559