About 2 dozen people stage peaceful sit-in at Northland Center Giant in State College
About 25 people staged a sit-in protest for about two hours Friday at the Giant that anchors Northland Center.
It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the peaceful protest, but two participants said their dissent was at least partially in response to an email sent by The Giant Company’s corporate office.
The crowd was comprised of shoppers and employees, Ferguson Township police Chief Chris Albright said.
“It was planned by a Giant employee. It came out of an email that corporate Giant sent to only high-level employees. I’m not really sure what the message in the email was,” participant Isa Gutierrez said. “... They were told not to forward it to lower employees that are there every day at the store. After some pressure on his co-workers, he was able to get the email and started this and sent out the word.”
Added Kiana Coleman: “We don’t specifically know what the message that Giant sent out included, but we know it excluded any mention of any of the actual victims of police brutality, any of the black lives that have been lost — recent or past — and it didn’t mention any of (what is happening) being fueled by racism. It sounded like it completely disregarded what was actually happening. It was kind of sugercoating the fact that there are definitely a lot of black lives being lost due to racism today and every day.”
The Giant Company spokeswoman Ashley Flower shared an email sent Tuesday by company President Nicholas Bertram to employees with a company email address.
Not all employees have a company email, so the message was also posted to the company’s associate website. The email did not direct employees not to share the message.
“The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many others bring pain, frustration, and anger to anyone who dreams of a world where we aren’t judged by the color of our skin, but rather by the content of our character,” Bertram wrote, paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr. “... For those losses, I offer my condolences and also my promise to do more to close the gap. ... I am sure you agree that to help close the gap, it is up to each of us to confront racism and injustice.”
The supermarket chain plans to increase employee access to the message by posting it at all time clocks as soon as possible to “encourage two-way conversations,” Flower wrote in a statement.
“We recognize the rights of our team members, customers, community members to protest in a peaceful way. As expressed in the above message from our president, we, like many across the country, are deeply saddened by the week’s events and our hearts go out to the families of George Floyd and all of those impacted,” Flower wrote. “Giant has a longstanding commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive environment in which all team members and all customers are treated fairly and with respect at all times.”
The demonstration seemingly included at least some amount of planning. At least four protesters displayed signs, including one that said “Black Lives Matter.”
Several made statements, but they also heard from Albright, who was one of about four township officers who responded.
Albright, who said he supported the protest, spoke about some of the changes the department is exploring and expressed his support to “end racism as well.”
He also referenced the killings of Taylor, Arbery and Floyd — African Americans whose deaths have reignited the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The most difficult thing sometimes is finding the right words. That I’m not just saying things, but it’s something that I can do as well. I can’t change what happened in Minneapolis, but I can change things here,” Albright said. “Do I like public speaking? The answer is no, but I think it’s my job to hear those voices, to hear those messages and do what I can to carry some of that forward.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 9:19 PM.
