Recently, Bill Smith, the Town Supervisor of Pittsford, NY has replaced the regular lighting outside of Town Hall with blue lights to state clearly that Blue Lives Matter. This is in response to the worldwide support of Black Lives Matter and marginalizes the Black Community in Pittsford and beyond. 

The blue lights appeared just after the peaceful protest on June 13th in the Village of Pittsford.  This was a day when many of our Black neighbors and students spoke out against the racism they've experienced in this town, and called for action. The blue lights are a visible symbol that the voices expressing pain right now - in Pittsford and beyond - are being demeaned by our local governments.

It is our goal to gather enough signatures to convince the Town to remove them, and to gather people to come to the next Town board meeting to hold accountable our representatives and demand that they do better.  With this action, Bill Smith has sent the message that Black lives are worth less in a system built on oppression. In addition to this purposeful act, the current Town and Village governments have disrespected the Black community in the following ways:

• Voted against creating affordable housing districts in Pittsford - akin to this generation's redlining.
• Declined two Village Trustees requests to fly the flag at half-mast to honor the memorial service of George Floyd.

The next Town Board meeting is July 7th at 6:00 p.m. Please sign this petition, then attend the Board meeting to demand that our Town does better to support the Black community. Please feel free to share your stories.