More than two dozen people rallied Monday outside North Charleston City Hall, committing to stay there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to get the ear of elected officials.
"It was really just to make sure Keith Summey couldn't get rid of us in two hours," said Sydney Clinton, a senior at Fort Dorchester High School and organizer of the protest.
The point of rally is to continue conversations around racial injustice, allowing people to share their personal experiences with discrimination and what they changes they'd like to see in the city.
Clinton said the group would like to see a racial bias audit of the police department, as well as the demilitarization of the city's law enforcement.
"We're not going away until we get what we want," Clinton said.
Preparing for a long day, the group had a table filled with bottled water and snacks. The group held signs reading "no justice no peace." They chanted "black lives matter," backed by tunes from a trombone played by Marcus McDonald, who also played his instrument at Marion Square on May 31.
The group planned to do a "die-in" every hour on the hour, lying on their stomachs for eight minutes and 46 seconds, marking the amount of time a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck. Floyd, a black man, died on Memorial Day.
At 10 a.m., the group moved from the parking lot to the outdoor space in front of the City Hall entrance. Lying flat on the ground with their hands behind their backs and saying, “I can’t breathe.”
Some people entering the city building stepped over the demonstrators.
The event included demonstrators who used their artistic talents to call for social change.
Chidera Nkem-osai, a Fort Dorchester senior, recited a poem that spoke of the inner strength of black people and their creative culture.
“You stole our culture and called it ghetto,” she said. “That’s OK, because our words will pierce your heart like a stiletto.”
“You my black child are the epitome of grace.”
North Charleston resident Krisalyn Komakech, also part of the faith-based community organization Rebuilding Every Community Around Peace, said attending the event was personal for her. She’s married to a black man and the couple has faced discrimination from family members.
Komakech feels the Floyd incident is a tipping point toward addressing police brutality, noting the actions of Minnesota police has even been condemned by other law enforcement agencies across the nation.
“It’s refreshing because it shows they’re finally willing to take a stand against their own,” she said.
Just before noon, the group had grown to about 30 people. They read poems, told of their personal experiences with discrimination and engaged in conversations around policies that could bring about change.
They chanted “all hands on deck, knees off our neck” and “white silence is violence.”
Several community leaders stopped by and showed support for the youth-led demonstration, including former mayoral candidate Pastor Thomas Dixon.
The event comes on the heels of more than a week of protests across the Lowcountry demanding justice for Floyd. Demonstrations were held in North Charleston recently, including a protest hosted at city hall by the family of Walter Scott, who was shot to death by a white police officer in North Charleston five years ago.
"all day" - Google News
June 08, 2020 at 09:39PM
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Student-run protest at North Charleston City Hall to last all day - Charleston Post Courier
"all day" - Google News
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