This past Saturday, Richmond stood up for the Black Lives Matter movement. RVA’s 1000 Man March saw people from all walks of life march across Richmond for one unified goal.
The march started at 3 P.M. and began at Monroe Park. As protesters joined together, led by organizer Tristan Harris, hundreds of men and women flooded the streets of Richmond on its march to Blackwell Elementary School, adjacent to Blackwell Community Center, a staple in Richmond’s Black community.
The march went from Monroe Park across the Leigh Street Bridge, taking up the entirety of the bridge with help from a police escort. Despite chants of “No justice no peace, for racist police,” with primarily White police officers escorting the protesters, their didn’t seem to be any tension among the two groups.
In the blistering heat, with many protesters dressed in black, the march made its way across the bridge and into the Churchill community where it made its stop at Blackwell Elementary School around 4 PM. At this destination, Harris would thanked all protesters for their effort. He then offered a bevy of speakers to give their take on why Black lives matter. At the stop, their was water provided, music playing, a bouncy house for children and food vendors.
Tonisha Pitchford and Shay Jackson, both college aged Richmond residents, came out for the walk because they said they’d never seen a protest like this in Richmond.
“I know VCU does but not Richmond in general,” Pitchford said in an interview with RVA Mag. “By this being so successful, I could see us making even further contributions to stopping police brutality within our own communities.”
“Some people don’t really understand why people get so passionate and have such heavy opinions about police brutality,” she said. “By being in this environment and talking amongst people who really feel some type of way about it, it shows that this is something bigger than ourselves.”
Jackson echoed similar thoughts, saying “I think it’s important because you have to be aware of what’s happening in this country and if you attend a peaceful Black lives matter protest it opens your eyes and shows that we are fighting for something non-violently.”
Despite recent mass shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Jackson stressed that the majority of people want change, not to avenge the deaths of those lost to police brutality. She also went on to comment on the contrasting “All Lives Matter” movement, saying “It’s kind of demoting Black lives matter because, understandably, all lives matter but not all lives have been through the same struggles.”
“I think with the speakers, it was a lot to take in because everyone has a feeling towards the subject,” Pitchford said. “It all depends on how far somebody’s mind is willing to go to understand it, I feel like some people might’ve been lost by the approach of the speech not the direct need of the speech.”
The approach Pitchford mentioned is that of a Pro-Black stance that might’ve alienated some protesters, despite the empowering message.
Harris invited many speakers to share their thoughts on the issue, many of whom were unnamed. The first speaker, Pastor Kelly Richardson from Passion for Reconciliation Ministry in Richmond, touched on the state of Black people today.
In his speech he stresses the lack of identity as the root problem of the Black community which has led to other problems such as self-hate, bad education and violence in the community.
Similar sentiments were echoed by speakers Jay the Messenger, and a poet named Rob, who both performed spoken word raps preaching “self-love” and “self-knowledge” for the Black community.
Others, such as one unidentified speaker, preached that the Black community more than anything needs to get unified political views enacted in law, stressing personal property tax and radical police reform.
Bishop James Moore claimed he stopped a church service when he saw the march taking place. He then joined in and ask to speak so that he could praise the crowd for taking a stand and making their voice heard.
Another speaker named Naomi spoke for the LGBTQ community, condemning those of who that don’t support LGBTQ Black lives and embrace their struggles as well.
After the speakers finished, Executive Director of Citizens Against Crime Charles Harris concluded with a prayer. The remaining protesters, which had significantly dwindled as people headed home or took the free shuttle service provided, marched back across Leigh Street Bridge with help from the police escort.
Harris made sure to thank the officers effort multiple times whilst speaking.
Overall, RVA 1000’s Man March was a successful protest with little to no adversity or controversy. Despite the heat, Richmond came out in numbers and showed a community that is unified in helping to make change.
