“I’m black. I’m American. It could be me.”
That’s why Dracin Williams joined demonstrators for part of a protest that lasted roughly seven hours in downtown Owensboro Saturday.
Williams said it could have been him in any number of recent events where black lives were unnecessarily lost.
Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in Louisville by officers who performed a no-knock raid at the wrong house in the middle of the night, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. They broke down the door and reportedly did not announce themselves as police. Taylor’s boyfriend fired one shot because he said he was acting in self-defense of someone breaking into the home, and his initial charge of attempted murder of a police officer was later dismissed. Police returned fire, with at least shots hitting Taylor.
George Floyd, who died in Minnesota after a white officer knelt on the back of his neck for nearly nine minutes. Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot and killed while he was jogging.
“What’s stopping anybody from coming into my house and shooting me in the bed?” asked Williams, who has filed to run for Owensboro mayor. “That’s what the realization is right now. You can’t go jogging. You can’t be in your home or the convenience store. Where do we go?”
That was the driving force behind the Saturday demonstration organized by Lahoma Estrada. It began at noon and finally fizzled out around 7 p.m.
—
Visit our Facebook page and Twitter for Saturday’s live coverage.
—
While they supported the message behind the event, Williams and several other black members of the community said there’s still plenty of work that needs to be done in creating a systematic change.
“We can be mad and act on impulse, but where is the strategy?” asked Taylor Hinton. “You ain’t getting nothing changed by tearing down buildings. You’re gonna get that anger out, but where is the solution?”
“We need more black power,” she said. “Black people need to understand what black power really is. It’s not just throwing up the fist. It’s not just out here marching. It is making sure we have the leaders in those positions.”
Protestors stayed on the sidewalks in front of the Daviess County Courthouse for about two hours before they began marching up and down 2nd Street. They later weaved their way away from downtown, eventually stopping at the intersection of Frederica Street and Parrish Avenue.
After demonstrators sat there for a few minutes, Owensboro Police Chief Art Ealum made his way to the center of the crowd, where he answered their questions and listened to their concerns and fears.
“Their voices need to be heard,” Ealum said. “It’s important for everybody to understand that. They have to understand that we as police officers in Owensboro are pissed off at what happened in Minnesota and around the country. It’s just not acceptable. We don’t do that here, we are not that type of department. … They want to yell about things that are happening in other places. That’s okay with me. We’re all in this together.”
Demonstrators eventually made their way back down to the 2nd Street, where they briefly surrounded and blocked a car from getting through the intersection at St. Ann.
Several within the group tried to discourage those sorts of actions, but others said measures like that helped get the message across that their voices must be heard.
Terry Pollard, who owns Serene Relief, tired to encourage everyone to look at the bigger picture. He said while the protests are a good start, it takes more than yelling side-by-side for a few hours.
“These same people can’t just stand by you in the streets, they need to stand by you at home too,” he said. “You tell the police to hold each other accountable, but we have to hold each other accountable too. I’m about peace and unity and connecting with others.”
Pollard said he had plenty of obstacles in life, including being homeless and sleeping on a friend’s couch. But it was the support system that got him through.
“I probably slept in one of the worst houses and worst situations, but those people encouraged me to go to school every day,” he said. “It was white people who was there to support me if I needed a ride. It was black people who told me I couldn’t be sitting around in the middle of the ’hood.
“It’s not about color, we’re all Americans,” he added. “We have to look out for each other, support each other. This ain’t going to work if you’re not behind the scenes looking out for each other.”
Many of the protestors later made their way to the Glover Cary Bridge, blocking traffic entirely during what led up to the only real incident of the day. A live stream of the demonstrators on the bridge was broadcast on the Owensboro Times Facebook page.
Tempers flared as demonstrators continued to chant for justice. A small handful of drivers exited their cars and approached the protesters, and though there were a few tense moments there was no physical violence.
However, as a few cars made their way through the crowd, one white female driver allegedly hit a black male demonstrator with her vehicle. Police finally got involved to help somewhat diffuse the situation. They took several statements and there is an investigation ongoing about whether the driver will face charges.
The man who was hit, William Riley, later told Owensboro Times he went to the hospital and was released. He said his femur is bruised and sore but there were no breaks.
Demonstrators made their way to the courthouse one final time before gradually departing in small groups.
What comes next is the lingering question. Williams, Hinton and Pollard and others like them know that one protest will not create change.
“This is clearly the first step,” Williams said. “Protesting is always the first step. But I’m also well aware that we do this year after year.”
Those three — along with several other older citizens who showed up — spread a similar message throughout the day: while people should express their anger at the injustice, just as important is everyone educating themselves and changing the system from the inside.
“We need people in our age group to represent us,” Hinton said. “Without the change, without the new way of thinking, we will fall back into the old. We have to wake up as a nation collectively.”
Pollard and others encouraged young people to register to vote so their voices could truly be heard, also saying they should strive to become teachers, lawyers, judges and senators.
Still, Williams felt Saturday was a good start for the people of Owensboro — and it’s only a small percentage of the demonstrations that are beginning to take place across the country.
“I think it was the start of something,” he said. “I think there’s something rumbling.”
