Organizer Mix’alh Adams, a sophomore at Los Alamos High School speaks at Saturday’s demonstration at Ashley Pond Park. His speech may be read in its entirety at https://losalamosreporter.com/2021/05/04/mixalh-adams-the-battle-to-change-things-for-the-better/ Photo by Tina DeYoe

Co-organizer Olivia Koo address those gathered at Ashley Pond Park Saturday afternoon. Photo by Tina DeYoe

Some 35 people attending Saturday’s Demonstration for an End To Racial Violence heard about how to stand up and speak out when you see racial injustice, hate, bias, discrimination or prejudice in any situation. Speaker Laura McClellan.

She noted the “Five Ds of Bystander Intervention from the Center of Anti-Violence Education in Brooklyn, New York:

Direct: Directly intervening in a situation. 

Delegate: Scanning a situation to assess risk and determine how to best intervene, and then delegating tasks. 

Distract: Distracting attention away from the person causing harm, the survivor, or the situation itself. 

Delay: Checking in with the survivor after the incident. This is essential because it shows the survivor that they are valued. Delay also means educating ourselves and our communities about systems of oppression, as well as organizing to eradicate violence. 

Document: If someone is already helping a person who is in crisis, you can document the situation by recording on your phone, or writing notes. Never post or share a video without the consent of the person being harmed. Putting a video (or even a picture) online can open you or the person who was harmed up to harassment, doxxing, or other continued harm. (Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly revealing previously private personal information about an individual or organization, usually through the Internet). It may involve law enforcement even when the person harmed doesn’t want that. If the situation ends while you’re present, ask the person harmed if they’d like a copy of the video and let them decide what to do with it.