The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile brought attention to police brutality once again. Sterling was selling CD's outside the Triple S food mart in Baton Rouge, when he was shot dead by two police officers. Castile was also shot multiple times by police when reaching for his license to show them. These stories of police officers abusing their powers and killing innocent people has grown to new heights that only seem to get higher each year.
This time around I refused to sit around and not do anything. When I heard that my city, Richmond,Virginia was finally having a march I had to be there. I felt really inspired. On the day of the RVA's 1000 Man March, I was very ecstatic. The weatherman on WRIC 8 News told us that there was a low temperature of 69 degrees and and high temperature of 88 degrees. At first it seemed like it would be a great day for the march, the weather was perfect . Then around 1 PM, an hour before we left for the march it started raining. Luckily by that time, I picked up all of my friends and headed downtown, the rain stopped, and it was just an overcast.
As we started marching from Monroe Park on the campus of VCU we shouted "No Justice. No Peace. No Racist Police" and "Black Lives Matter" along with other chants and songs. I was really in awe throughout the entire march, but trying to play it cool to not seem like the black culture nerd that I really am.
There were so many things that took me by surprise at the march and I think that the ages of the participants is probably the first thing. I expected the people marching along side me to pretty much be around the same as me, but boy was I wrong. There were babies in strollers to men and women who looked to be in there 60s at least.
After we got home from the march I started to think about how protests and marches for people like Philando and Alton were portrayed on television. Protesters are often made out to be troublemakers but I believe that is a false interpretation. The Richmond City Police were dressed in their normal uniforms and didn't really seem like they were waiting for trouble. In other cities where there have been protests the police department showed up in riot gear as if they were waiting or asking for trouble. I mean, for what other reason would law enforcement stand in 100 degree weather with heavy, black, hot riot gear on. It just doesn't make sense but it does make the live feed on CNN look a bit more interesting.
I couldn't help but think about what exactly I would have done if that were the case in Richmond. Where would I go? Who would I call? How was I going to make it home? I wondered how Martin Luther King made all those marches in the scorching heat in the dirty south, and we only went two miles not close to the distances he went.Its sad that sometimes even our right to freedom of assembly and speech isn't allowed nowadays like they tell us it is. At least not when it comes to Black Lives Matter.
RVA's 1000 Man March is something I will remember for the rest of my life. Despite all of the drama that happens in my city everyday, It showed me that we can still come together in the time of need. It was cool to see that my city cares about things other than the food festivals and functions of that nature. I will never miss another protest or march in my city again.
