Hundreds of demonstrators, mobilized by Women of Color for Systemic Change, came out on the streets Jan. 10 to demand police accountability and and an end to the school to prison pipeline. Starting at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, demonstrators marched to the King County Juvenile Detention Center. On the way, demonstrators blocked the intersection three times while people took to the mic to express their feelings and opinions about racism and police brutality. The march concluded with an open mic at the Detention Center, in which some speakers directly confronted the police who were guarding the youth jail.
At the first intersection blocked on Rainier Avenue, nine-year old Justin was one of the first youth to speak. “I think its racist when white cops kill Black kids,” he stated. Many others followed Justin, sharing their outrage and pain at the epidemic of racist police violence and police impunity.
Liberation News spoke to a number of demonstrators during the day to find out what brought them to the streets.
A large group of young women turned out from the group Girls First. Tashari, Vivian and Trinae explained that they had come because they wanted “To make a change!” They were particularly motivated to attend when they found out that the protest was going to march on the Juvenile Detention Center.
Ashley was holding a sign with a quote from the revolutionary psychologist Frantz Fanon. She explained: “I am motivated by the things that are happening. People are finally realizing that the death of Black men, women and children is an issue, that Black lives matter.”
Michael “Renaissance” Moynihan spoke powerfully on the open mic, denouncing racism, sexism and structural oppression. Speaking with Liberation after the open mic at the Detention Center, he expounded further: “I’m here because I’m on the battle lines every day. I’m here because Black lives matter—not an assertion that any one else’s don’t but an assertion that Black lives matter in the face of a system that systematically attempts to deny this fact.”
