GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The mission is education, with a goal of bringing people together – particularly the youth in the community – to build a different, more unified future.
“Racism isn’t something that you’re born with, it’s something that’s taught. So if we can teach these kids something different, like togetherness and unity – I think that that’s also a big step in the fight,” says Chauncey Hughes.
Sunday was hot, but well over a thousand people filled Leicht Park to make their voices heard. Another Black Lives Matter protest met in the park before taking to the streets of downtown Green Bay.
The event was well-organized, with everything from a full public address audio system to a sign making table and even a booth educating people on how to sign up to vote.
Organizers also prompted the crowd to introduce themselves to the people around them – saying why they were there, what their experiences have been, and what their backgrounds are.
“Through these community gatherings, we are finding a new way to have a dialogue about an uncomfortable situation, an uncomfortable issue. And that’s the goal,” Hughes says.
The protest officially began with a moment of silence. Eight minutes and forty-six seconds of silence. The same amount of time that George Floyd was held down by Minneapolis police before he died back on Memorial Day, sparking a now worldwide movement. A handful of organizers from Black Lives United – Green Bay also took to the microphone to address the crowd.
“If we weren’t getting gunned down, we wouldn’t have a reason to protest. So sorry not sorry for the inconvenience that you have to work the next morning, I do too, because it’s an inconvenience for me for my people to be getting killed. I could be next. I’m tired of being scared,” says organizer Dajahnae Williams, “If it wasn’t for our voices out here protesting, you wouldn’t have so many people donating their time and equipment and supplies to make this happen positively and peacefully.”
After a handful of speeches, Williams had a major announcement that she hoped would ease some tension in the crowd – and across the city.
“We’ve been debating with the mayor all week, and we met with him before the protest and he told us that the curfews were lifted,” Williams tells WTAQ News, “It’s been a lot of back and forth with our local authorities and authorities of power and I’m glad that they’re seeing why we want to protest, why we deserve this freedom – because it’s all we have left.”
Mayor Eric Genrich and a few recent high school graduates also made comments before the walking began.
“I am born and raised in this city, and I have never seen anything like this. This is a beautiful, beautiful thing,” Genrich says.
The crowd followed organizers, who were signified by their black shirts with gold lettering reading ‘Black Lives Matter,’ out into the streets.
Protesters marched down Ashland Avenue, stopping at the intersection with Walnut Street before turning to make their way downtown. The demonstration again stopped briefly while on the bridge, and participants took a knee. Some bystanders in the area were also seen kneeling or raising their fists during that time. The march then worked down to Jefferson Street before hanging a right – heading towards the Green Bay Police Department.
The demonstration outside of police headquarters was far from the rallying conversation seen last week, but similar chants and signs filled the air as some officers looked on.
Protesters then marched to the Mason Street bridge. Some traffic disruption was caused as the seemingly never-ending flow of people made their way up the ramp. Cars were stuck as people spread across the entire width of the bridge, slowly making their way across.
The mass of people exited again to Ashland Avenue, where they eventually stopped at Seymour Park. Speakers were plugged in again to play music – and a picnic was served.
“It is hot. So we’re having a water gun fight with everybody to bring everyone together, we’re going to eat and dry off as we’re eating. Then we’re going to keep protesting – that’s what we’re here for – to keep marching and talking and chanting,” Williams says, “We’ve been protesting for two hours so far with over 1000 people and nothing bad has happened and that’s what we wanted this whole time was peace.”
Water gun fights were held, basketball games were played, and food and drinks were provided as people of various backgrounds again sat for conversations in the shade.
Williams adds that everything was supplied by people in the community.
WTAQ News also had a moment to speak with two young women who were extremely vocal, leading chants with their megaphones during the march. We asked what inspired their energy throughout the two hour walk.
“We’re doing it for our people. For our brothers, our sisters, our dads, our uncles – for everybody that this could affect,” says 18-year old Hannah Beauchamp-Pope, “For future generations. Violence against African Americans has gone on since the first African was stolen off the shores of Africa, so here we are in 2020 still waiting for equal treatment in this country of the home of the land of the free and the brave.”
“We don’t want this cycle to continue somebody’s got to stand up and somebody’s got to say something…This racism cannot continue in America. Who wants to raise kids in this climate? Nobody,” 20-year old Jordyn Cook tells WTAQ News, “Trauma is passed down for generations and generations. I feel the pain of brothers and sisters and I feel the pain of watching these videos – because that could be me. That could be my dad, that could be my aunt, my mom and my sister. I feel that pain and I harness it and I’m gonna use it to be loud.”
The sun was beating down on everyone. People were sweating, people were tired – but just before leaving to get another bottle of water, Cook turned back to us and made one more comment.
“This is light work because I’m alive. Because I’m alive.”
The stop was for rehydration and rallying. More people were invited to address the crowd, including the family of Jonathan Tubby, who died in police custody after being arrested in Green Bay in 2018.
“It’s definitely a trigger, we’re reliving it over and over, and we will continue to for the rest of our lives, even after we see justice. Because it’s just that difficult to lose someone, and in the circumstances that we lost him,” says cousin Danielle Karl.
Protesters then made their way back towards Leicht Park to wrap things up.
