Girls with the Elev8ed Elite Dance and Cheer Company dressed in all black and practiced their new routine downtown Dallas Monday morning.
"I will create opportunities for change," one girl chanted.
"I must inspire myself," the troop responded in unison.
The team hasn't been able to practice in its studio because of the pandemic but found inspiration, and a stage, on the streets of downtown Dallas, where Black Lives Matter art fills boarded up windows and walls. It inspired the girls to make a YouTube video.
"When we dance we just make a statement," 10-year old troop captain Zaria Fisher said. "To help the cause for Black Lives Matter."
The video features the dancers against graffiti backdrops and in DART stations. They wear face masks with the now-familiar names of Black lives that have been lost at the hands of police.
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"I want them to know you need to be able to always express yourself," Elev8ed Elites Dance and Cheer Company Director Shantrail White said. "Dance is the perfect outlet for them because they're so young, they may not know the exact words of what to say, but they have their dance movements to be able to help them express how they feel."
All the girls are under 14 years old, and they have a lot to say.
"Sometimes I feel like our lives are in danger sometimes," Fisher said. "Because of how people are treated."
"I want to be treated equally," 13-year old troop captain Shakyra Roberts said. "I still love whatever race that doesn't love me. I still love them because there's nothing that we should have against them."
