folks are starting to gather around the free speech wall in downtown charlottesville for a march scheduled to begin at 6 
the young organizers start things off by leading the crowd of hundreds in a chant of george floyd’s name.
the crowd fills the entire mall from the pavilion to fifth street - it’s quite a turnout for our small city.
the crowd fills the entire mall from the pavilion to fifth street - it’s quite a turnout for our small city.
“y’all ready to start marching?” the crowd roars its approval & we’re on the move, “black lives matter” echoing off the stores on either side of the pedestrian mall.
the front of the march has reached the end of the pedestrian mall & there are calls of “whose streets? our streets!”
this march is too big to reach UVA without taking the streets even if they wanted to stick to the sidewalks.
this march is too big to reach UVA without taking the streets even if they wanted to stick to the sidewalks.
one motorcycle cop directing traffic by the racist statue of sacagawea. charlottesville city council met with her descendants last year and agreed to their request to remove it
there are public works trucks blocking some of the side streets, but the police are giving the march space.
we’re pausing outside charlottesville’s first baptist church, a historic black church
@ the people filming the march from your balconies: the march stretches for blocks. you have plenty of time to get dressed and come down to join us!
as the front of the march reaches the edges of UVA, i’m getting word from the back that the march stretches all the way back to downtown
(that’s close to a mile of west main street full of people)
i’m seeing a lot of popular support for defunding the police
the march is just passing the bar where martese johnson was brutalized by a liquor control officer five years ago
nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u…
nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u…
ugh fuck that article has a gruesome thumbnail i didn’t anticipate sorry
passing st. paul’s episcopal church now. @Jalane_Schmidt tells me the UDC had their meetings in that church back in the day. these days they ring their bells enthusiastically on liberation and freedom day. things can change.
the front of the march has reached UVA and is turning up toward the rotunda by the jefferson statue.
the bells at st. paul’s episcopal are ringing nonstop now. the front of their march has reached the steps of the rotunda.
“the phrase black lives matter isn’t trending anymore. does that mean the work is done?” the crowd roars no. “we gotta keep our foot on the gas,” one of the young organizers shouts.
“we are the same kids that were raised under the first black president. but that doesn’t mean we live in a post racial society. we are the same kids that saw trayvon martin get murdered and no justice came from that,” a young black man says from the steps of the rotunda.
he says young black men may be able to dream of being president now, but 18.2% of the population still makes up half the population of those incarcerated.
another young organizer says that even at 19 years old, he still has to have conversations with his mom about how he dresses because what he looks like is a matter of life or death.
black lives matter is not just a hashtag. “we gotta keep it up for the rest of our lives and our children’s lives after that,” says the second young organizer.
someone has taken the organizers up on the offer to address the crowd - they say their grandmother is 108 years old. she was born oppressed and is still oppressed but this is the generation that is going to make a massive change.
a young woman who is not black has the megaphone. “the only thing that people who are not black should be saying to black people is — “ and she makes an exaggerated gesture of hanging the megaphone back to a black organizer.
reverend don gathers addresses the massive crowd. “this is charlottesville,” he says. we showed the world in 2017 and we’re doing it again - “it’s just sad that we continue to have to gather in this way.”
“the system itself is not broken, the system was never designed for us on the first place,” don continues. “today is the day we say no more.”
“eight minutes and forty six seconds. eight minutes and forty six seconds,” reverend gathers says. he asks us all to take a knee.
a young person who identifies as mixed calls for afro latino and dominican people to tell their stories & stand with black people.
“monuments aren’t killing black people, police are,” says another young woman. “that being said, they have to come down.”
“these statues represent the foundation of the beliefs that are getting us killed,” she says and they must come down. but we cannot allow ourselves to be pacified by those actions alone.
the young man speaking now is the grandson of one of the first students who integrated albemarle county schools.
“we gotta continue to fight, we gotta continue to love each other.”
“my family built this city, my people built this city, so let’s continue to build for the better.”
“we gotta continue to fight, we gotta continue to love each other.”
“my family built this city, my people built this city, so let’s continue to build for the better.”
“let’s continue to build and let’s continue to destroy this system that was pitted against us from the beginning,” he finishes.
a white man is now reminding everyone to vote against donald trump & advocate for mail in ballots.
“this country was not built for us,” says one of the young black organizers.
he asks if people are ready to go home yet. the crowd gives an unambiguous no.
he asks if people are ready to go home yet. the crowd gives an unambiguous no.
another organizer tells us to be unafraid of difficult conversations. you have to educate your friends and your family.
“i don’t want to grow up being scared,” says a young black woman. “there’s many of us who are scared and we don’t want to feel like that anymore,” she looks out at the huge crowd and tells us all to speak up for people like her.
“this country was built for people who look like me,” says a young white woman. “it is our job, it is every white person’s job,” to undo the damage wrought by white supremacy
another white woman tells the crowd antiracism is an active choice, not just the absence of active racism
another white woman tells the crowd antiracism is an active choice, not just the absence of active racism
a black uva student says this is the first time he’s ever felt like he belongs here, “this is the first time i ever felt like this campus respected who i am”
he says one of his brothers didn’t come today - he was afraid. he’s been watching people getting gassed & shot by rubber bullets and he was afraid to be unapologetically black in the streets.
a young person says her father moved to the US from egypt the year before 9/11. “ignorance is bliss for the majority, but ignorance is death for the minority,” her father used to tell her.
“we not only stand with black lives matter today or tomorrow - we stand with them forever.”
“we not only stand with black lives matter today or tomorrow - we stand with them forever.”
quite the crowd
“i’m a pretty awkward guy so i’m not gonna be afraid of awkward situations anymore,” says a young man apologizing for not intervening when he saw people being racist growing up in the south.
a young black woman lays it out very clearly - do not say the N word. don’t say it. not ever. non black people can never say the N word and have a duty to stop other non black people from saying it.
a young black woman takes the megaphone - she says she is a black educator & the crowd goes wild for her.
“those black and brown children are hurting,” she says of her students. they see people who look like them die on tv every day. they deserve better.
“those black and brown children are hurting,” she says of her students. they see people who look like them die on tv every day. they deserve better.
“i’m a black educator. i make up 7% of the teaching staff in america,” she says. “that is a problem.”
she also calls for the end of police in schools.
she also calls for the end of police in schools.
millions of students in america are in a school with a cop but no nurse, counselor, or social worker
aclu.org/issues/juvenil…
aclu.org/issues/juvenil…
i’m so sorry to the young person whose short speech i missed while i was fumbling around for those stats about cops & schools.
a young person who identifies as biracial reads aloud the comment their white grandfather left on their mother’s facebook. their mother clapped back at her own father - these are the difficult conversions that need to be had.
“i am only 16 years old,” they say. “why do i have to live like this?” “why do we have to be racially profiled because we have melanin in our skin?”
the next speaker says “i am a professor here at the university that thomas jefferson built — correction: at the university my ancestors built.”
she goes on to point out that we’re gathered in front of the same statue of thomas jefferson that nazis with torches marched on 3yrs ago
she goes on to point out that we’re gathered in front of the same statue of thomas jefferson that nazis with torches marched on 3yrs ago
oh wow some fucking shade for charlottesville’s patron saint, thomas jefferson. she says he plagiarized from locke 😂🔥
her name is professor larycia hawkins, sorry i missed that at the top!
“pick up a book and educate yourself about antiracism but also put your body on the line. our bodies are always on the line,” professor hawkins says. “white people haven’t had to be resilient in this country.” “get ready for a battle.”
“i’m a professor without tenure,” she says. “if i go, i go. if i die, i die.”
go to marches, go to meetings, demand change, change policy. “just patting yourself on the backs with this isn’t enough.”
go to marches, go to meetings, demand change, change policy. “just patting yourself on the backs with this isn’t enough.”
professor hawkins outlined some concrete areas where local folks can push for change - the county is considering removing johnny reb at the courthouse. if you live in the county, call & write your supervisor.
cville city schools is considering their policy on school resource officers. call or write the school board and go to their next meeting - tell them we don’t need cops on schools.
i can’t even begin to estimate the size of this crowd. thousands. but in this moment of silence i hear nothing but birds. there is stillness as we honor the black lives stolen by police.
more information for folks looking for concrete steps to take in charlottesville & albemarle can be found here
with our moment of silence concluded, a young latino person addresses the crowd. he knows what it’s like to be afraid of the police, having grown up with undocumented parents & acknowledges the fear black people live with knowing they may be killed.
“all my life i was told i talk white,” says a young black woman. “ironically, racism was my insulation from racism,” “i thought i was ok.”
“racism isn’t just getting shot in the streets, even though a lot of it is getting shot in the streets,” it’s also “you’re so articulate” and “you’re so pretty for a black girl,” she says.
“don’t check in with your one black friend. we don’t want that. we’re doing very badly, thank you very much.” she tells people to seek answers on their own & be actively anti racist.
“i grew up in belmont but now i don’t feel welcome there,” says another young woman. “let’s talk about how we never really learned in school about vinegar hill,” (the black neighborhood the city razed in the 60s)
ah for fuck’s sake - the app crashed while i had four posts queued up and they’re gone now.
the woman who spoke a few minutes ago said she hopes to see all the white people here tonight out here once this moment passes & isn’t going to give us a congratulations just for marching.
if you live in charlottesville, contact the school board *now,* before their meeting on thursday and demand NO COPS IN SCHOOLS.
charlottesvilleschools.org/home/school-bo…
charlottesvilleschools.org/home/school-bo…
i urge white people who have feelings to work through to join groups like SURJ. it’s important to talk through our own personal complicity & obligations, but taking the mic from black people at events they organized to speak for themselves isn’t the best time or place
a young asian man implores his fellow asian young people not to be silent in the face of anti-blackness. “be part of the new system that is yet to come - to tear apart, to destroy systemic racism.”
organizers are capping things off with a benediction from reverend don gathers. he says he means no disrespect to those of other faiths, but he offers a christian prayer.
“until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream - by any means necessary.”
“until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream - by any means necessary.”
“i know many of y’all expected me to pray for peace. but it’s time for some righteous indignation,” reverend gathers says. “it’s time for us to do like jesus & turn over some tables.”
(reverend gathers clarifies that he doesn’t mean tearing down neighborhoods)
organizers tell the crowd it is time to disperse & end things with a mighty chant of “black lives matter”
