Ebony Nyoni had a tough message for the large, mostly white crowd gathered at a Winooski bar six days after the presidential election: Distraught people looking for comfort as they contemplated a Donald Trump presidency would not find it from her. "Trump doesn't scare me," the founder of Black Lives Matter Vermont began, to thunderous applause. "We've been dealing with racists like him for hundreds of years. He's nothing new." But, she warned, "If you're only here to feel better about yourselves now that he's won, we don't need you. We need people who will work to save black lives." With that, Nyoni led more than 100 supporters on a boisterous, traffic-obstructing march through the Onion City, drawing still more people from homes along Main Street in spontaneous solidarity. It was a signature evening for the emerging civil rights organization. But was it a sign of sustainable momentum for Black Lives Matter Vermont? Or was it a rogue wave of support in the immediate, uneasy aftermath of an election that left many Vermonters unsettled? "I've seen a lot of organizations come and go," said Robert Appel, a 65-year-old lawyer and civil rights activist. "The challenge has been to sustain a coordinated effort." BLMVT is the new kid on the block in Vermont's robust activism community. But in recent months, buoyed by a surge of attention to the now-international Black Lives Matter movement, the local organization has become among the most visible advocacy groups in Vermont. Its evocative black-and-yellow raised-fist logo has become a fixture at marches and protests around the state, not to mention on bumper stickers and T-shirts. The group's own events consistently garner significant media coverage. The organization has benefited from a Trump-inspired burst of local activism and has used its newfound visibility to push an ambitious platform. But BLMVT faces many of the same challenges as its predecessors in Vermont's civil rights movement — most glaringly, the state's pervasive whiteness. African Americans are just 1.3 percent of the state's population. "We don't have a model to follow," said Vermont Law School student and BLMVT leader Brittmy Martínez, noting that most Black Lives Matter chapters benefit from a more diverse population than Vermont's. "We have to build it from the ground up." And the state's liberal politics can be a hindrance, not a help, according to BLMVT youth coordinator Isaiah Hines. "The single biggest barrier to racial…
Ebony Nyoni had a tough message for the large, mostly white crowd gathered at a Winooski bar six days after the presidential election: Distraught people looking for comfort as they contemplated a Donald Trump presidency would not find it from her. "Trump doesn't scare me," the founder of Black Lives Matter Vermont began, to thunderous applause. "We've been dealing with racists like him for hundreds of years. He's nothing new." But, she warned, "If you're only here to feel better about yourselves now that he's won, we don't need you. We need people who will work to save black lives." With that, Nyoni led more than 100 supporters on a boisterous, traffic-obstructing march through the Onion City, drawing still more people from homes along Main Street in spontaneous solidarity. It was a signature evening for the emerging civil rights organization. But was it a sign of sustainable momentum for Black Lives Matter Vermont? Or was it a rogue wave of support in the immediate, uneasy aftermath of an election that left many Vermonters unsettled? "I've seen a lot of organizations come and go," said Robert Appel, a 65-year-old lawyer and civil rights activist. "The challenge has been to sustain a coordinated effort." BLMVT is the new kid on the block in Vermont's robust activism community. But in recent months, buoyed by a surge of attention to the now-international Black Lives Matter movement, the local organization has become among the most visible advocacy groups in Vermont. Its evocative black-and-yellow raised-fist logo has become a fixture at marches and protests around the state, not to mention on bumper stickers and T-shirts. The group's own events consistently garner significant media coverage. The organization has benefited from a Trump-inspired burst of local activism and has used its newfound visibility to push an ambitious platform. But BLMVT faces many of the same challenges as its predecessors in Vermont's civil rights movement — most glaringly, the state's pervasive whiteness. African Americans are just 1.3 percent of the state's population. "We don't have a model to follow," said Vermont Law School student and BLMVT leader Brittmy Martínez, noting that most Black Lives Matter chapters benefit from a more diverse population than Vermont's. "We have to build it from the ground up." And the state's liberal politics can be a hindrance, not a help, according to BLMVT youth coordinator Isaiah Hines. "The single biggest barrier to racial…