Don’t just like it, be a part of it. That was a major message Sunday for a group of citizens who marched more than 11 miles in a non-violent protest around the streets of Owensboro as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.
During Saturday’s local protest there was an incident on the Glover H. Cary Bridge, but it was relatively minor compared to the riots and looting in major cities across the country. Still, the Owensboro group on Sunday was emphatic about simply having their voices heard.
“I feel like yesterday was a lot of people (protesting) out of aggression and anger,” said Jovante Hagan, who helped organize the march. “That’s not how you handle situations. You can’t be out here aggressive, or that’s what you’re going to get. If you’re negative, you’re going to get negative. We try to come out here with a positive outlook on things.”
Hagan said he originally “liked” someone’s Facebook post about marching Sunday, but he was encouraged to not just like it and instead be part of it.
Aside from a few occasional negative comments from passers-by that led to some back-and-forth shouting, there were no incidents as the group marched down various streets of Owensboro. Many people, though, honked their horns in support or came to the edge of their lawns to offer encouragement.
Starting at Moreland Park, they made their way west on Parrish Avenue, later coming back up Griffith Avenue. They then marched past the Owensboro Police Department before heading out to KY 54.
Many of the protesters laid on the ground for nine minutes in the parking lot of McDonald’s on 54 to honor George Floyd, the black man who died in Minnesota after a white officer knelt on the back of his neck for nearly as long. (Owensboro Times live-streamed the walk down 54 and stop at McDonald’s on Facebook.)
From there, the demonstrators weaved their way back to Moreland Park, completing their journey in roughly 6.5 hours.
The group cordially interacted with several OPD officers throughout the day. Though early on the protestors felt officers were suppressing the message by blocking traffic from driving by, they worked together to find a compromise.
Protestors walked in the medians of KY 54 and Parrish Avenue, with a police car in front and behind the group to ensure everyone’s safety. The demonstrators also began to let officers know the route they planned to take.
During one stop for rest, some of the demonstrators even shared popsicles with OPD officers and AMR employees.
“The police actually did a good job,” said Jacob Wisdom, who travelled from Ohio County to show his support. “We put them to work actually protecting us and making sure everything was going well and I feel like for the first time we had the police on our side, which is why we are out here.”
It’s a far cry from the violence that has occurred in other cities, including Louisville.
Kristen Burden and Jenna Daugherty — also of Ohio County — were both in Louisville for six hours for part of Saturday’s protest.
“It was chaotic,” Burden said. “There was a complete difference between here and Louisville. As soon as we got to Louisville, eight minutes in we were tear-gassed.”
That’s why Hagan said while the message is no less important, he wanted to make sure Owensboro’s was a peaceful event.
“We just wanted to be heard,” he said. “We didn’t want to mess anything up, we didn’t want to vandalize, break nothing.”
OPD Chief Art Ealum released a statement Sunday morning regarding Saturday’s events, but officials said the message applied to the second day of protests just as well.
“The Owensboro Police Department supports peaceful protests,” the statement reads. “Our citizens seized the opportunity to march through areas of our downtown at times disrupting traffic and blocking the Glover H. Cary Bridge. Our mission was to protect all citizens; therefore, we rerouted traffic around our community activists. The minor inconvenience that motorists experience yesterday paled in comparison to the social injustices that African Americans and other people of color have suffered in our country for centuries.”
It continues, in part, “They voiced legitimate concerns about police brutality in America and concerns about our own police department. It’s great to engage in discourse but it requires all sides to be civil and respectful; that doesn’t mean we have to always agree. … I am very proud of our citizens who participated in the demonstration without resorting to violence and destruction other cities have experienced this past week. … We all want peace in this city and we all value human life.”
There haven’t been recent incidents in Owensboro that have drawn national attention like those of Floyd in Minnesota or Breonna Taylor in Louisville or Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.
But, protestors said that shouldn’t mean the community should expect them to be silent.
“It happens here,” Hagan said. “They might think it’s good here, but it’s really not.”
Wisdom said it takes an effort from everyone to get the message across and keep the movement going.
“If you’re only sticking to places like Minnesota or Louisville, they become isolated incidents,” he said. “If you’re not popping up everywhere to show that the whole world wants this change and if you’re only keeping it in these small areas, then it doesn’t show that everyone wants change — just those people who are affected by it.”
