‘Our children are the reason’: Roughly 100 march for Black Lives Matter in Brookside
A group of roughly 100 people gathered Sunday afternoon at 63rd Street and Brookside Boulevard, decrying systematic racism and police brutality in hopes of creating a better community for a new generation, organizers said.
The Rev. Randy Fikki of Unity Southeast Kansas City led the crowd in chanting, “We will fight this fight. We will fight this fight so our children will not have to.”
The protest, named “Brookside Black Lives Matter Brigade - We Must All Come Together,” was organized by Unity Southeast in Kansas City, Fight for Freedom KC, The Miller Dream LLC, Love They Neighbor — Kansas City, and activist and attorney Stacy Shaw.
“It’s beautiful,” Shaw said. “You see so many people from different races, ethnicities, religions, genders, ages represented here.
“You had families that had the bravery to bring their children, because our children are the reason why we’re out here marching, why we’re out here risking getting arrested because we want a better future and a better community for them,” she said.
Shaw, along with three others, was arrested about a week ago during a protest in Overland Park.
Shaw told the crowd at the beginning of the rally, which started at 12:30 p.m., “so many people here are standing here despite of their fear. There’s something more pressing than your fear.”
About an hour later, the group began to march toward Troost Avenue on 63rd Street, echoing each other to the tune of the popular football chant “everywhere we go.”
“Everywhere we go people wanna know who we are so we tell them we are the protesters the mighty, mighty protesters.”
They also joined in singing ”We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”
Along the route, several motorists traveling west on 63rd Street, slowed down and sounded their horns in support of the marchers. Motorists traveling east on 63rd Street patiently waited as demonstrators continued on the route.
Once at 63rd and Troost, demonstrators were encouraged to kneel and hold their breath for as long as they could. The gesture was symbolic to how long a police officer knelt on the neck of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in late May.
After several moments, a number of protesters stood on their feet and yelled “I can’t breathe!”
Signs and shirts held the names and faces of people killed by police, including Floyd and Donnie Sanders, a 47-year-old man was fatally shot by a Kansas City police officer in March.
The protest in Brookside follows Saturday night’s gathering in Prairie Village, where at least 100 people came together in Weltner Park to call for justice, equality and solidarity.
This story was originally published August 2, 2020 at 2:49 PM.
