After the recent deaths of two Black men at the hands of police departments in the midwest, VCU student and Richmond community members met in Monroe Park for a rally to honor those lost.
After the recent deaths of two Black men at the hands of police departments in the midwest, VCU student and Richmond community members met in Monroe Park for a rally to honor those lost.
This past Friday, 40-year-old Terence Crutcher was killed by officer Betty Shelby in Tulsa, Oklahoma after his car broke down in the middle of the street.
Last Wednesday, 13-year-old Tyre King was killed by Columbus police officer Bryan King. King was responding to a burglary call and approached King believing him to be one of the suspects.
So last night in Richmond, Organizers Reyna Alexys and Aaron Brown, two Black queer VCU students, lead a rally to bring continued attention to the issue.
“I’m here for all Black lives and my only end goal is liberation,” said Alexys. “We are here for Black lives no asterisk. We are here for Black trans lives, Black queer lives, Black non-binary lives, Black fem lives, all Black lives.”
They allowed space for folks to express their thoughts and vent their emotions affirming that it was a safe space for folks to share whatever was on there minds.
Student Zaza Willis was one of the people who stepped up and urged folks to stop sharing the videos of Black people being killed saying it was hard for Black people to not internalize another visual example of police killing their own.
“Be conscious of Black pain within this space,” they said. “Outside of this space. Realize that Black people are going through a very tough time and sharing this videos are only making it worse.”
After a few more folks shared their feelings and thoughts, protesters began to march out of Monroe Park, up Laurel st onto Broad chanting the familiar call of “Black Lives Matter.”
At the intersection of Broad and Shafer st., the rally blocked the four corners of the intersections to be seen by drivers and pedestrians on all sides of the street.
Organizer Reyna Alexys leads the march down Broad st.
The march then continued down Broad st. and turned onto Harrison and then Grace, stoping directly in front the VCU Police Station.
There they held a moment of silence to reflect on everything they were protesting. The group eventually walked back to the VCU Cabell Library. There the rally reconvened to hear more voice from folks who hadn’t had the opportunity to share their thoughts.
“Richmond could very well be the next Tulsa, Columbus, or city where someone gets murdered,” said Willis. “Richmond has the same conditions as almost all the other places where people have been murdered. It’s very highly gentrified, Black people are contained to certain areas and they are highly policed.”
Jafar Cooper (top image, middle with arm raised), an art student at VCU, echoed Zaza’s statement.
“Richmond is the 250-year-old capital of the Confederacy,” they said. “Richmond and VCU are quote unquote diverse spaces but we still have Trump Coalitions here, we still have white nationalist groups being formed on campus. People make posts in the VCU 2017 page about meeting up for Trump rallies. That’s dangerous.”
According to Cooper, the moment those mindsets are allowed to flourish it creates the potential for something to happen.
Camille Ashley Spencer, a current VCU student and activist, said she woke up in a surreal haze of “disgust and numbness” as she read more about police shootings against Black people.
“As a Black woman, I constantly tune into to social media and every time I see someone who looks like me or a family member get killed I’m numb to it,” she said. “I’m used to seeing it and it takes a toll on your mental state and your physical state. And after actions like this, I feel empowered; I feel strong. Because I realize everything that’s been bottled up inside me.”
Many who attended the rally shared that feeling of catharsis Spencer experienced. They expressed hope this movement would continue to grow – not only here in Richmond, but globally and to become more inclusive.
“If you believe in Black Live Matter, then you have to do so fully,” Cooper said. “You care about Black lives because you can about queer lives, because have Black queer people, you care about Black femme lives, because we have Black femme people etc. There’s a huge umbrella under Blackness and if you don’t live for every single one of those people that are black then you are anti-Black.”
The rally ended at the Compass in the center of VCU’s campus, an area where they could be seen by many other students as they passed between evening classes.
“I’m glad that people got to see this protest,” organizer Brown said. “By the end of this, there were a lot of people congregating… That was really important for everyone to see this and to see us take up this space.”
Brown admitted they probably only reached a handful of VCU’s 35K+ students, but he hopes it gave the few they did reach something to think about.
“This woke somebody up enough to think ‘yo Black people are really angry about this shit,’” he said. “And while that’s not enough, and while I don’t think this is where activism begins or ends, I do think it’s a good catalyst to get people thinking.”