The Search to be Seen Continues for Visibility Brigade Poughkeepsie

The Poughkeepsie chapter of Visibility Brigade continues its fight to be seen and gain members

By: Jalen Carpenter

When you’re driving down Route 9, there's a lot that you could potentially see. The road is not known for its peaceful commutes, with bad traffic, cars swerving, and continuous honking bombarding you as you drive south. If you get the chance to look up though, you might’ve noticed a small crowd of people adorning a large American flag across the chain wall of an overpass. This small, yet mighty group is the Poughkeepsie Visibility Brigade. 

This past weekend, the group held an event on the overpass above Route 9 on Hoffman St and Albany St. As I arrived , there was nothing indicating an event was about to take place. All that was there was a group of about six people. The first thing I noticed was the stark difference in age. The majority of the group was old, however one of them looked like she was younger. Upon arriving, she immediately struck up a conversation with me. 

The womens name is Katie, and she was one of the founding members of the group, and is responsible for running their socials. I was taken aback when she greeted me by name, but she explained I was the only one that signed up online. Despite this, I was still interested in participating in the event, and it was nothing short of delightful. 

Prior to the start of the event, I talked with Katie to see why she decided to take part in the group. She talked about a desire to show the community that people care about what's going on. She discussed wanting to form more community togetherness through these events.

“It's solidarity in our own mission, but it's also showing the community that a lot of people care”, said Katie.

After our conversation, I began helping the group set up for the event. For other protests I have covered around the area, the set up was straight forward. Pass out signs, line the sides of the road, and that's it. This was different though. We first began hanging up large letters on the chain fence of the overpass, spelling visibility. After this, we strung up a large American flag upon the same fence, and then passed out little ones for everyone to hold and wave. 

This was vastly different from other protests and community events I have covered. There was either an altered version of the flag, or no flag presence at all. But for Visibility Poughkeepsie, there seemed to be an emphasis. This was fully intentional. 

“We care about America too. We care about this country just as much as they do.When people see us and see the flag we want them to remember that.”, said Katie.