Post Messenger Recorder -

To the person(s) who have been stealing our Black Lives Matter yard signs:

Hello! I wanted to formally introduce myself, since you seem to be venturing onto our private property at night while we’re asleep. My name is Emily, my husband’s name is Robbie, and we have a lovely little daughter and two dogs who love to snuggle. We’ve lived in New Glarus for over a year now and love this community very much. Blumenladen, Kristi’s, Fat Cat Coffee shop, The Bramble Patch…there are so many wonderful little gems hidden throughout the town that we’ve very much enjoyed exploring! One thing I don’t particularly love, though, is the fact that we’ve had three Black Lives Matter signs stolen from our property.

The reason why Black lives matter in our household is because, as a teacher, I have the privilege of teaching young minds of children who are a multitude of colors. Black, brown, white, the full spectrum of the “skin rainbow,” as one of my students eloquently put it. Each one of these children are absolute magic, and the joy they experience at school is a wonder to observe. Unfortunately, many of these children (who are 4 and 5 years old) have already experienced a very different upbringing than I did as a white person. These are children who are very aware of the inequalities they face in their community and who are having conversations with their families and teachers that no child should ever have to worry about. I never grew up fearing that, because of my skin color, I may be unfairly targeted by authority figures. I never once had to worry about finding toys or books with characters that looked like me. When I scraped my knee and put on a Band-Aid, the color of the bandage blended in with my skin, easy as pie. Black lives matter to my family because until every single child living in this country can say that they grew up in a community that valued, respected, and fought for equitable rights, regardless of the color of their skin, we still have work to do as a nation.

Emily Kosmeder,

New Glarus

P.S. And, in a roundabout way, I believe I owe those who are taking our signs a “thank you.” You have allowed us to continue to support black small-business owners through our contributions in purchasing new signs. Funny how things work out sometimes, right?