Fears, hopes, frustrations aired at Black Lives Matter prayer, protest

JacQuez Harris remembers being fascinated by police cars when he was at the Macon Mall as a child.

“At the time, I knew that I was safe in the presence of law enforcement with no reservations in heart or mind,” Harris, 29, said to about 300 gathered in one of Macon’s oldest churches built by former slaves. “Can someone wake me up from this dream?”

Harris, who is black, recalled watching on Facebook a video of a black man being shot to death after a traffic stop in Minnesota on July 6. Philando Castile had been stopped for a broken tail light. His 4-year-old daughter was in the backseat of the car.

Maintaining her composure, Castile’s girlfriend can be heard on the video.

“You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir.”

Castile’s death followed the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling in Louisiana on July 5.

Protests erupted across the country, calling for change.

At a protest in Dallas, Texas on July 7, a sniper opened fire on police and others. Five Dallas police officers were killed in the attack.

Most recently, on Sunday, a protest in response to Sterling’s death became violent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Police threatened to gas a crowd of 300 and the crowd threw debris at the police. About 50 people were arrested, according to news reports.

The events sparked outrage across the nation, prompting some in Macon to call together community leaders.

At a Black Lives Matter protest, prayer and vigil Monday night at the First Baptist Church of Macon on New Street, fears, hopes and frustrations were shared.

Reginald Sharpe Jr., pastor at House of Hope in Macon, helped organize the event.

“Our main goal was just to get pastors, city officials, politicians, police officers and concerned citizens in the same room to have the same conversation,” Sharpe said. “We’re hoping that people understand that silence, although it is seductive and although it is simple, is not going to solve anything. Just the fact that we’re speaking about issues is so huge. Although it’s a ripple, maybe it will create a current and we can overthrow some walls of oppression in our nation.”

Sharpe said racism and unequal treatment of black lives by law enforcement has been going on for years.

“The only difference now is, we have social media and people can turn on Facebook live and YouTube,” Sharpe said. “It’s not that it’s just now started. It’s just now being seen.”

Macon Circuit District Attorney David Cooke, Macon-Bibb Mayor Robert Reichert, former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis, current county commissioners, Macon-Bibb NAACP representative Gwen Westbrook and Bibb County Sheriff David Davis were among those who attended the gathering.

Ellis raised questions about police-involved shootings in Macon. Others asked the sheriff about sensitivity training for officers and the office’s policies on uses of a deadly weapon.

“We are here tonight with heavy hearts, we join a nation with heavy hearts,” Sheriff David Davis said. “We are all falling short of achieving the goal of perfect justice.”

Davis read aloud the names of the officers killed in Dallas, followed by Castile and Sterling.

“These lives were not given in vain,” the sheriff said. “These lives helped us spark a renewed sense of seeking justice and a renewed sense of involvement and engagement. ... For law enforcement, in this community, we’re going to work to remove the shackles by having our officers reflect this community, be diverse like this community and be accountable for and by this community.”

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 9:09 PM with the headline "Fears, hopes, frustrations aired at Black Lives Matter prayer, protest."