Two peaceful protests
Last weekend I attended two Black Lives Matter protests in two very different communities. The first one was in a city park in Shoreline, Washington, USA near Koné Consulting headquarters and where I live. Shoreline’s demographic is predominantly White[1] so when my family and I arrived, I had my doubts on the turnout and the organizing. After arriving at the park, we were quickly absorbed in the massive crowd covering the lawn and parking lot. More people were pouring in even still, not to mention the protestors who stayed in their cars on the street.
As we continued through the crowd, we could start to hear the speakers- the group of young and passionate Black students who organized the entire thing. They worked hard to communicate with the police and the City to make sure it was a peaceful event. It was so inspiring to see Black students like myself pulling off such a large protest for Black Lives Matter in a city with a 6% Black population.
As we marched from the park to the town hall, it was incredibly peaceful with limited police in the area. Almost every driver passing on the nearby highway was honking and showing support, as well as some people handing out bottles of water or snacks to the protestors. A community really came together to stand up for basic human rights of Black people and against police brutality.
The second protest was in South Seattle, beginning in Othello Park with a long march to a local grocery store parking lot. The population of this neighborhood is much different than Shoreline- over 21% are Black and only 30% are White. When I arrived with my co-worker Katharina and another friend, the crowd was absolutely massive. I have never been part of a march that large. There were many more People of Color (POC) compared to the Shoreline protest, as well as many large groups of people marching together.
The atmosphere was much more like a music festival, with music, multiple snack and drink stations and people walking around giving out hand sanitizer. As we began marching, most of the roads were blocked off by a group of cyclists that lined intersections. I saw only three or four police officers in total, and they were motorcycle traffic cops that were blocking off other roads. It was the most peaceful and community-unifying march in which I have participated.
As we continued marching, we came to Black and Brown-owned shops that had outdoor stations with water, food and hand sanitizer. Medic trucks driven by volunteers were scattered around carrying supplies. As we ended the march, we arrived at the grocery store parking lot, transformed into a sea of people. A tent with speakers and music made it look like a festival instead of a protest. Imagine Coachella but designed for ending systemic racism and police brutality.
The week of June 15th, KC will be closed to celebrate our 10th Anniversary. It will be nice to get away from the city for a week while we are out of the office. And it will be an entire week to spend reflecting on how I can make a bigger impact in my community and how I can help end police brutality and institutionalized racism.
- Isaac
Isaac is a project assistant and our tech intern. He will be attending Western Washington University in the Fall.
[1] Shoreline’s 2019 Census data shows seventy percent (70%) White, about fifteen percent (15%) Asian, about six percent (6%) Black and about six percent (6%) multi-racial.