Groton — Dressed in black, students in Janine Sullivan’s African-American literature class lay down on the ground and “died” Friday in front of the auditorium at the Robert E. Fitch High School. 

The 34 students participated in an early morning “die-in,” a peaceful demonstration to bring awareness to the struggles that the African-American community faces, including the recent deaths of several black men who were killed by police. The protest also was aimed to recognize the sacrifices that police officers make to ensure public safety. 

Some students held signs with the words “#ICan’tBreathe,” “#EricGarner” or “#BlueLivesMatter.” 

Sullivan said during Black History Month, each student prepares a biography on an influential African-American leader. The essays are read in the morning over the public announcement system. But this year, she said, the students wanted to do something more in light of the Ferguson and Staten Island protests. 

“I feel like this is helping people understand that this isn’t a joke,” said Alyssa Hunt, a participant in the demonstration. “People are being taken away from their families. There is a lot of tension, and people need to talk about it.” 

Hunt said she has two uncles who work in law enforcement. 

“I understand that it’s hard to be an officer and that they are here to keep us safe,” Hunt said. 

Ashley McLaughlin, another participant, said her generation needs to stand up against all injustices. 

“This is not the 1800s,” McLaughlin said. “If we all got together, we could get rid of a lot of society’s problems. Everybody has value, and the targeting of any one person is out of place in our generation.” 

A Staten Island grand jury in December declined to bring charges in the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old man who died in July after a New York police officer placed him in an apparent chokehold during an arrest. 

Garner’s last words, captured on videotape, were, “I can’t breathe.” 

In November, a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict a Ferguson, Mo., officer in the Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. 

“We had a lot of conversations in class about the dangers of making assumptions about a whole group of people based on the actions of one or two people,” Sullivan said. “We wanted to get the conversation started among the whole student body.” 

Sullivan said the demonstration was kept a secret from the student body in the hopes that it would catch their attention Friday morning. She said the signs with the hashtag symbols had a purpose. “We wanted them to go on social media and discover the meaning behind the words,” said Sullivan. 

And it seemed to work. Libby Williams, a junior, took photos of the protest on her phone. “I’m definitely going to search the hashtags and learn more about what’s going on,” she said. 

Some students stared at the demonstrators while others seemed to walk by almost unaware of what was going on. 

Jazmyn Scott, who also participated in the demonstration, said while violence and injustice exist in society, the response to those situations shouldn’t be with more violence. She said there are peaceful ways to seek justice. 

“You can make a big statement without saying anything at all,” Scott said. “I feel like we did that today.”

i.larraneta@theday.com

Twitter: @larraneta