Geoff Epperson
Take it to the Streets
As the camera begins to roll, Geoff Epperson, co-organizer of the protest, is on the opposite side checking to see if the camera is in focus. With years of experience in theater and directing, Geoff is adamant about getting the right angle. Satisfied with the camera’s position, he gently scoots past me and takes a seat in his chair. He looks into the camera and smiles. With legs crossed and a calm demeanor, Geoff appears to be both excited and relaxed. Breathing in deeply, he focuses his attention on me. We’re ready to begin the interview until we hear, “Hi you guys, I love you!” Smiling and laughing we looked around to see which one of our kids shouted it out. I respond, “Love you too!” We both grin and shake our heads — kids. With that we begin the conversation of how Geoff and his family initiated a family-style protest.
“My wife sent me a text one night, because she knew I was very focused on the news...and the text said, ‘Nathan just said it would be nice to have a nice protest.’ They were looking at the riots and the civil unrest on tv. I mean it can be scary to a nine year old, it can be scary to an adult. So I pondered on it and days later I spoke with Nathan like, ‘Do you think we should do one?’ He was like, ‘sure’. I then joined the school’s Facebook page thinking, Well, this would be where we could do this. And I thought, If we could get 10-15 families together we could march around THIS neighborhood and walk to the police station, that was my whole thought. And then you reached out and a bunch of other people reached out and there was WAY more enthusiasm then I was ready to give Orland Park credit for. I figured it would make sense to create a second (Facebook) page and bring everyone in. Through you we were able to get in touch with Sister Matthews (another Black Lives Matter organizer)...a former student of mine was the (Head) Marshal — she really stepped up. It happened FAST! I think (from) start to finish it was like a week...it was a shock.”
As one of the organizers, I too was amazed by the swiftness of the process and by the number of protesters. I asked Geoff if he was able to get an official count. He replied, “We did work with Orland Park Police and Chief McCarthy said, the fire department counted over 300 people. That was a very pleasant surprise.” We smiled in amazement because neither one of us expected a large turnout. I can’t help but wonder if quarantining due to the pandemic had some part to play. I ask Geoff to share his thoughts on this. “Yeah, the perfect storm. Most people are watching (the) news and they’re stuck at home. I think the availability of time to participate helped.” I chime in afterward and ask if he was nervous protesting during the pandemic? “I was not nervous for my own safety because my family and I have been pretty consistent in terms of hand-washing, and it was outdoors. I was MORE concerned about someone hurling out the ‘N’ word.” Geoff begins to share a story about a neighbor who experienced this form of racism. “We had neighbors years ago, a Black family, and the mom told us once that the daughter was outside with her and someone drove down the street and yelled it out as they were in their front yard. That can be traumatizing. I didn’t want to see that happen to anybody at the protest.” I understand Geoff’s sentiments completely. Over the past several years our nation has witnessed peaceful protests turn destructive, even deadly. I’m thankful this wasn’t the case for our demonstration.
I segue into the questions on race and racism. As a woman of color I’m interested in how White parents discuss and explain these concepts to their children. Is it difficult? How in-depth are these discussions? The racial climate in the country has stirred up conversations about race, history, and systemic inequities. I ask, “How did you feel as a parent having the conversation about race and racism with Nathan?” Geoff pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts. Exhaling, he replied, “The weird, unfortunate thing is our conversation about race is FAR more privileged and less uncomfortable being a White family. I’ve been learning that you need to be anti-racist. And I don’t know if our conversation falls into that latter category yet. (Nathan) knows that racism is bad. He doesn’t know that you need to actively go against it. So we haven’t had the hard conversations that families of color have had to have. Our conversation is, ‘People of Color are treated poorly. You need to speak up and say that’s bad.’ And it shouldn’t be a hard convo. It’s an easy conversation for me to have.”
This statement leads me into a more sensitive question. Hoping to pull back a few layers in our conversation I ask how his parents discussed racism with him. He looks off into the distance as he reflects, then chimes in, “My mom was fairly liberal, politically, not a super activist but always on the liberal side. My dad came from Southern Indiana, he probably voted Republican more than Democrat (Geoff laughs). He has family from deep, deep Alabama...there’s a strong conservative streak in our family. We never had HARD conversations like that. We grew up a stone throw away from Boystown and Wrigley Field, and that’s always been a very liberal area. I got into theater young, so even though I wasn’t having hard conversations at home, I was learning about stuff like that through osmosis.” It seems Geoff’s parents’ views mirrored their political affiliation and influenced their decision on where to raise their family. Thinking about his family mix I ask about the level of support he received from his family concerning the Orland Park protest. “My brother is deep into protesting and SUPER supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement...I have a couple of liberal cousins, so there are allies within the family — there was support.”
Supporting his fellow man is important to Geoff. “I want to be as good of an ally as I can be.” I ask him to share advice for people seeking to be an ally but may not know where to begin. “You have to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable, and lean into it when it happens. I was a little uncomfortable getting that call from Dr. Matthews. I was a little nervous that I was doing things wrong (planning for the protest)...but it turned out to be fine. I think a lot of the discomfort is fear of perception.” Geoff understands this, he feared others would see his efforts as “performative”. Casting those thoughts aside, Geoff is willing to be brave and speak his mind. “You need to be OKAY with some not liking what you say.” For instance, words like Black Lives Matter. This phrase has been criticized and hotly debated by those who proclaim, All Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter (referring to law enforcement). I asked Geoff his meaning of Black Lives Matter and he responded, “I think the simplest thing is to add too. Black Lives Matter too. And that’s it! But they don’t and that’s why they have been oppressed.”
Where do we begin? How does our country begin to dismantle oppressive systems? Geoff suggests we start with our children. “Kids need to be taught differently. Re-teach or significantly change how American History is taught. Incorporate the 1619 project and the fact that systemic racism exists, and it’s kind of the original sin of the country.” He believes this is one reason why White people don’t recognize systemic racism or their white privilege, they simply don’t see it. Let’s teach our children to see so the world can be a better place.
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