Macon community gathers at Rosa Parks Square to honor George Floyd, call for change
In a park named after a Civil Rights leader in downtown Macon, hundreds of community members gathered to pray, sing and reflect on the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
Many wore masks, greeting each other with light elbow taps rather than handshakes. Some carried signs that called for change, proclaimed “Black Lives Matter” and called for “Justice for George Floyd.” They knelt, sat and stood underneath the trees or the warm noon sun in Rosa Parks Square.
Vases of flowers honoring Floyd, a black man killed by Minneapolis police officers on Monday; Arbery, a 25-year-old Georgia man shot and killed by two white men while jogging near Brunswick in February; and Taylor, a 26-year-old Louisville, Kentucky resident who was killed by Louisville police in March, were placed by organizers in front of the loudspeakers.
One race
The “Ecumenical Day of Solidarity” was organized by the Macon-Bibb Council of Clergy and featured prayers and songs by local ministers and a rabbi, and proclamations from Bibb County and the Sixth Episcopal District.
The Rev. Dr. Walter L. Glover Jr. expressed frustration that the black community was still dealing with racism, in addition to being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the subsequent economic downturn.
“Can you believe we are encountering racism now in 2020? Hate crimes in 2020?” he asked. “We are better than that, we have been better than that. We should have graduated from that. Black people are tired of being treated like animals and second class citizens. God created all mankind. There is only but one race; that is the human race.”
Tulsa Race Massacre
Nancy Cleveland is on the Rosa Parks Square board. She noted the board is working to finalize architectural designs for improvements at the square, including structures to provide shade and a statue of Rosa Parks, before launching a fundraising campaign.
Cleveland also reflected on the date: on May 31, 1921, hundreds of black residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma were injured and killed during the Tulsa race massacre. The Greenwood District, a concentration of black-owned businesses commonly referred to as Black Wall Street, was destroyed.
“To be here 99 years to the day of such a tragedy, one many people don’t even know about, it shows that people who don’t look like us haven’t spoken up enough. They haven’t done enough to dismantle the system they’ve created,” Cleveland said. “Often, they look to people of color for solutions, which is unrealistic.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see us coming together, and it’s reminiscent of when we were making progress because of the unity and the diversity of the people working together.”
Almost a century after the Tulsa race massacre, Cleveland remained optimistic about the potential for lasting change in America.
“I have beyond hope,” she said. “I know it’s going to change. I don’t know if it will change in my lifetime, but just the evidence of us being in this park shows progress. It’s bittersweet saying that; just because you’ve made progress, doesn’t mean it’s enough. But we clearly have moved ahead, and I feel like we’re moving toward the goal, to MLK’s dream coming true.”
Overwhelming and exhausting
A woman who only wanted to be identified as a black mother sat with her two sons, ages 23 and 19. She reflected on the fear she felt as an African-America mom watching men her sons’ age killed by police, but also said she felt encouraged by the multicultural and inter-faith turnout at the square.
Her son, Izrael Dubois, said he and his family relied on their faith to help process the steady drumbeat of violent videos and images.
“It’s overwhelming and it’s exhausting to have the same conversations,” he said. “It was Ferguson, it was Trayvon Martin, stop-and-frisk. At the core of it, we just want to be heard, to start a conversation. Christ is our filter, and it’s because of him we’re able to process this in a healthy space.”
Bibb County Sheriff David Davis attended the event with two of his deputies. He said Macon has had several peaceful demonstrations across the city.
“The things we’re seeing across the country are heartbreaking, and people have to have an outlet for that,” he said. “They have to have an outlet for that outrage. Very fortunately, we have a good relationship with our community. We’re here to support, we’re here to show our dismay and disappointment in our law enforcement brethren for treating individuals the way they have.”
This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 5:21 PM.
