At 6 pm on Oct. 11, Decatur community members will fill the Decatur Square, wearing masks, to celebrate Indigenous People’s day through a cultural education event and protest organized by Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights. The community will hear music, poetry and stories by people of color, part of Beacon Hill’s artistic approach. The Square is home to a cannon monument commemorating the genocide of the Indigenous Muscogee Creek people in the 1836 “Indian War.” Protesting this is a focal point of the event.

Decatur High School’s Advanced Acting Ensemble is putting on a production of “The Laramie Project” this week. The play revolves around a series of interviews by the Tectonic Theater Project with Laramie, Wyoming residents reckoning with the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was killed for being gay. 

Last year, junior Sophia Norton participated in the worldwide challenge “Dressember” alone, wearing a dress every day in December as a way to raise awareness and money to fight human trafficking. This year, she has formed a team, Decatur’s Dressy Dogs, with fellow juniors, Hally Laney, Mary Katherine Moore, Fiona Mcelroy, Elena Pawloski and Saja Mohammed, raising $1,938.35 as of Dec. 20.