An event scheduled for Wednesday, June 10 asks Healdsburg residents to share their race-based experiences with the community. The event will take place in Healdsburg’s Plaza from 3 to 8 p.m. and will have a station where people can create posters explaining their experiences as part of a temporary art installation.
“Our hope for Wednesday is that BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) come out and speak out/write their experiences with racism/discrimination living in a predominantly white town,” said Lupe Lopez, who’s organizing the event with her friend Cristal Perez.
The decision to hold the event came after Healdsburg Mayor Leah Gold made a comment during a city council meeting saying that she didn’t believe the city council needed to have a presentation about the Healdsburg Police Department’s use of force policy (since then, the city has agendized a presentation from the police department about the use of force policy). According to Lopez, Perez thought of the idea after she heard about Gold’s comments.
When asked why she thinks this is an important event to hold in Healdsburg, Lopez said that she doesn’t think that a lot of residents or locals believe that racism or discrimination is happening in town.
“There’s this image that Healdsburg is trying to uphold,” she said. “Especially one that revolves around making sure that tourists always come here or feel good about coming here. Now don’t get me wrong, Healdsburg is a beautiful town, but growing up here I always felt like there was no representation or resources for BIPOC. Especially considering the fact that these people are the ones that help with the agriculture/wine industry that Healdsburg profits from.”
She said that, being raised in Healdsburg, the amount of times she’s experienced discrimination or has had someone say something racist toward her or other people is “mind blowing.”
“I think with everything going on in the country, this is a good time for the people of Healdsburg to just let BIPOC speak out and be heard,” she said.
