Protesters march to the University of Georgia Arch from the Athens Clarke County Court steps on May 31. Clarke Central High School class of 2017 alumna Aslea Eatenson, who attended the rally as a volunteer, believes that White allies to the movement should take an initiative to educate themselves on topics surrounding the movement. “I’m a White ally in support of my best friend, and I’m in support of all my friends and people of color. I think the major things I want to (say) are directed to White people: educate yourself (about the movement). There are so many resources available right now,” Eatenson said. Photo by Naomi Hendershot
On May 31, Athens community members and others from surrounding areas gathered at the Clerk of State & Superior Court steps and began the march to the University of Georgia Arch in protest of police brutality.
On May 31, in the heat of the recent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Athens Mutual Aid Network along with local Black Athens activists organized and led a protest of around 2,000 people in correlation with the recent BLM rallies across the nation.
“The first purpose (of this protest) is collective mourning and righteous indignation for the recent incidents of police violence and racism that have happened in this country, as well as acknowledgment of a long history of systemic racism in both this country in the city,” Athens Clarke County District Two commissioner Mariah Parker said. “As a member of the County Commission, I am interested in how it can turn this righteous indignation into legislative action. And so members of Athens Mutual Aid Network, who were central to organizing this event, adopted some of my policy demands as key to the messaging of the event. We (are) sad. We want cops to stop killing us. We want justice for George Floyd, but we also want Athens to be better, and so we gathered to demand that.”
The protest began at the Clerk of State & Superior Court steps on 325 E. Washington St., where many gathered to begin the march to the University of Georgia Arch on East Broad St. Once at the Arch, many local Black activists, including Parker, gave testimonials in front of the “Soldiers’ Monument”.
“I am not personally familiar with everyone who came up to speak but I do know there were members of the Athens Mutual Aid Network, as well as I was there with a friend and fellow hip-hop artist, Celine Hayes, who spoke,” Parker said. “There (were) a number of mostly queer Black women that were leading and speaking from the Confederate monument on Broad Street, and it was exclusively Black people that we allowed to speak.”
Among those attending the rally, Clarke Central High School class of 2017 graduates and current UGA student Denise Sunta and current Barnard College student Alesa Eatenson were among the many volunteers who wore bright green armbands.
“The green armbands are worn by the protest marshals — our job was to make sure that protesters were following the march route and reminding folks that we were staging a peaceful protest,” Sunta said.
Although many protesters were gathered around the “Soldiers’ Monument”, some in attendance stayed towards the back of the crowds to practice social distancing while still participating in the rally.
“I wish there would be more social distancing, but I’m here in the back where there’s plenty of room, so I feel safe personally. I like how they’re handing out masks and hand sanitizer,” community member Morgan King said.
King hopes that protests like the one in Athens will make a difference.
“I just hope something changes. I hope this whole culture changes, and I hope that when people come together like this they realize that we have power,” King said. “We have power in numbers, and I don’t know who the President’s gonna be (come Nov. 3), I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but people need to realize that we have power when we come together.”
According to Sunta, protesters of different races were in attendance.
“I would say that the racial demographics of the protest, in general, were fairly mixed,” Sunta said. “I think given how racially segregated Athens actually is in some respects, (it) is indicative of how real and serious the issue of police violence and institutional racism is within our community.”
Although many in attendance may have viewed the event as progress for BLM, local Black activist and Community Organizer Imani Scott-Blackwell viewed the event’s effects differently.
“I just wanted to take in the irony of a peaceful protest saying, ‘No justice, no peace.’ I was curious to see how many people thought we were getting closer. I wanted to look at all of the potential changemakers and see how close they were to actually actively making changes,” Scott-Blackwell said. “My question is what happens tomorrow? You know, what happens when the next person is killed? Is there going to be the next person? Are we okay with that? And if not, what are we going to do for that?”
Scott-Blackwell also questioned the intent of some in attendance at the protest.
“I feel like it’s ironic because it’s almost as though we forgot that we just had a Black person murdered here in our state. We forgot that here in Athens, eight people have been murdered by the police in the last year,” Scott-Blackwell said. “And so now we all want to get together almost like taking this opportunity to — I could see a lot of people that have been trying to get out of the house, and this is about one of the only justifiable times to do so.”
Overall, Parker felt the day offered opportunities for peaceful shows of solidarity.
“I think it went incredibly. I think that people stood in solidarity together, in love and in a commitment to a more just world. We demonstrated our anger and our commitment to justice peacefully, which is the outcome everyone wanted, I believe,” Parker said. “There were two separate events, and we were able to merge very peacefully, come together and stand together, and a beautiful show of solidarity. And so I’m really proud of Athens and what we did yesterday.”
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