The signs of summer are popping up in Congress Park in Saratoga Springs. It’s been a space where people flock to escape the most the difficult days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, over the past year, it became a place of hope, in many different ways, including the home base for Black Lives Matter rallies in the Spa City.

Chandler Hickenbottom has been in the forefront in the Black Lives Matter movement in the Capital Region, but she began her advocacy just a year ago. The death of George Floyd, she said, sparked a change within her.

“We’re not going to be able to move forward if we’re not shining a light on what’s happening,” said the activist. “It was really rough for me to step up, but I knew that with the way things were going in this town, unless somebody else stepped up, nothing was going to change.”

She says she grew up in a school system where there was very little representation for people like her, and said she often heard racist comments from other students. Today, she said she’s in everyday situations where looks along Broadway don’t go unnoticed.

“People really tend to believe that Saratoga is this cute little, nice little town and there’s no racism. And I wanted to make sure that people knew that there were things happening in this town that weren’t correct and needed to be fixed,” said Hickenbottom.

Throughout last year, rallies, organized with the help of Hickenbottom, spread from Congress Park and quickly brought Broadway to a halt. She says people of all walks of life, age and background came out to support the movement. She also shared her thoughts for those aggravated with the traffic halt.

“Just because you’re inconvenienced for five seconds does not mean that I have not been inconvenienced for the past five years of my life. I’m sorry that you’re inconvenienced, but maybe take the time to realize that other people around you are suffering,” she added.

But this year did not come without change, as the city’s Police Reform Task Force came up with a ’50-point plan’ for police reform. It was adopted by Saratoga officials earlier this year, as the state implemented a deadline for cities across New York to adopt a police reform plan or risk losing state funding.

“The 50-point plan the police task force came up with was absolutely flawless,” she said, crediting those who volunteered their time on the task force. “The people that live here, they want change, they really do. It’s the people in office that are halting the change.”

But a step in the right direction does not erase generations of injustice, which is why Chandler is spreading her advocacy beyond the Spa City. She’s been taking part in the protests in Albany, Schenectady and Troy – most notably, outside the Albany Police South Station, when she says she faced the same aggression she’s fighting against.

She says she was standing on the ramp of the station, megaphone in hand, when an Albany Police lieutenant tried to grab it off of her. In turn, she says, he caused injury to her face and she needed dental work due to the incident.

“He messed up my nose. My nose is bleeding. I had some chipped teeth,” she added. “Right after he hit me was when the crowd just started getting brutalized.”

She knows change sometimes comes at a cost.

“I think this is just part of the change, because if you look through history, this is the same thing that was happening. It’s just not in black and white,” said Hickenbottom.

And it was outside that same police station, on her 25th birthday, where Chandler heard of the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin in Floyd’s murder.

“At the end of the day, we still have so much more work to do,” she said.