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| Me addressing the protestors before we embarked on our march |
Myself and Coralie Boly and Amina Carter organized a #BlackLivesMatter protest, Juneteenth March For Racial Equality, in Halethorpe, MD on Friday, June 19th, 2020 at 3pm.
With all of the recent protests and marches to call out racial injustice in America, I felt like it was finally time for myself to participate. Previously, I was worried about joining in on protests with large crowds due to Covid-19, but I felt it was important for my and other black voices to be heard.
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| Myself and other co-organizer Amina Carter leading the march |
How it happened
About two weeks before the protest, Amina reached out to me to do a speech at the protest. I actually met Amina at Girl Scout camp probably 10 years ago and we still managed to keep in contact. However, she mentioned that she was struggling getting everything together because organizing a march like this is quite difficult for anyone to take on. I offered my assistance in anyway possible and I ended up becoming one of the co-organizers of the event.
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| The flyer that we sent around social media made by Jamie Saunders |
In order to get the word out, I contacted NPR and they included us in an article talking about the various Juneteenth rallies/marches/protests. Additionally, I was in close contact with Baltimore County Police who reached out to us to ensure that we could do this protest safely. While many aspects of these protests are anti-police, their assistance was very helpful in controlling traffic, planning the route, and keeping us safe from violent counter-protesters, despite us basically protesting them.
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| The signs I painted and put in front of Save-a-Lot |
Luckily, Amina and Coralie were able to get a lot of other aspects organized such as collecting hundreds in donations, gathering snacks and water, organizing speakers.
Leading up to the march
In my quote in the NPR article, I mentioned that we chose Halethorpe, Maryland because it is a predominately white area where residents can willfully ignore racial issues in America if they choose to do so. Unfortunately, many residents of Halethorpe felt that my quote was racist and offensive. Many middle-aged white residents took to sites like Facebook to express their anger, hatred, violence, and fear. Fortunately, I was able to find many of these concerned people, as they were posting publicly, and respond to their comments of fear and hate to hopefully make them less enticed to counter-protest. Some of the people had nasty comments such as "run them over!" or getting ready to "lock and load". The police that were working with us were able to track down a lot of these people who were threatening violence and talk to them.
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| Just some of the hateful and violent messages we received online |
Still, I was really nervous that I might be attacked or something while at the protest. I was not really sure what these people were capable of or what they were planning.
The March
I got to the Save-a-Lot where the protest started about 2 hours early. Myself and the other organizers put up signs so when people start to arrive they know where we are gathering. We then walked the route of the march, about one mile, to the park where people would be giving speeches. The weather called for thunderstorms that day, but luckily we were able to finish everything just minutes before it began to storm.
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| Me with my sign and megaphone as people began to gather |
While Amina and Coralie were setting stuff up at the park, I was greeting protesters who were rolling into the parking lot. It was amazing that everyone followed our request and all wore masks and social distanced to prevent the spread of coronavirus. While people were waiting, I continued to give information about what we were doing and where we were heading. We also had a large abundance of signs, water, snacks, and masks so that everyone was well prepared.
As we started to march, it was very emotional and moving to see the 150+ people walking behind me as we led them in chants such as "Black lives matter!!!" or "This is what democracy looks like!" It was amazing that so many people came out despite the weather and the many other marches that they could have gone to.
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| I'm in the front with the yellow bandana. I was so emotional having these people follow me. |
Once we got to the park, everyone spread out on this open field and playground and listened to about 8 of us speak on our own experiences as Black Americans, why we held this march, and what we want to see changed. Everyone was engaged and supportive, even as rain started to drizzle. We then walked back in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd.
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| Me giving my speech |
I was very proud of my speech because I don't usually speak in front of audiences, but I don't mind it and I love having opportunities to improve my confidence in speaking. It was a great place to do so because everyone was very supportive.
We finally made it back to the lot where we started and many people dispersed before the rain came pouring down. I felt so lucky to be a part of this and that Amina and Coralie decided to put this whole thing together. We received a lot of positive feedback from people in the community.
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| Another shot of us leading the protest through Halethorpe |
Luckily, none of the white supremacists or counter protestors actually came out, except for a few people who decided to yell ignorant things. Overall, it was very successful. We even got wrote about in the Baltimore Sun.