Freedom for All Macon Solidarity Run + Walk 4K offers alternative to July 4th

Envisioned as an event to create a better future by acknowledging some of Macon’s stories of racial injustices, the Freedom for All Macon Solidarity Run + Walk 4K will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Rosa Parks Square.

“It’s basically an event that I thought of as an alternative way to celebrate July 4th,” said co-founder Nancy Cleveland of Macon. “In the black community, it’s often joked about that we weren’t free on July 4th, 1776, so it’s always like this bitter-sweet feeling celebrating Independence Day.”

While many may have celebrated Juneteenth, the annual holiday that celebrates the abolition of slavery in the U.S., Cleveland said she thinks that it’s important “to emphasize and to remind people, unfortunately, that Black Americans are Americans first, and we need to celebrate Independence Day and we need to find a way to bring everyone together to celebrate so it’s not an us vs. them thing.

“And also when I say everyone, it’s not just a black or white thing like LGBTs, Native Americans, Hispanics, special-needs disabilities. Everyone needs to just to create an environment where we all feel like we belong, and so that’s what the Freedom for All hopefully will do,” Cleveland said.

Participants can walk or run the 2.23 miles in honor of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was fatally shot Feb. 23 near Brunswick while jogging through a neighborhood. The 2.23 miles represent the month and date of his death.

The event will also highlight historical African-American markers along the route, while also commemorating the story of John “Cocky” Glover, a Black man lynched in Macon in 1922.

“We’ll actually have markers like yard signs with two articles that are printed that people will be able to scan and it will take you to a webpage where you can read all of the history about the different landmarks we’ll pass,” Cleveland said. “And it’s kind of like a walking tour and you can go at your own pace. That’s how we’ll be sharing a lot of that history.”

Volunteers will be on hand to answer any questions participants may have, she said.

Additionally, victims of gun violence will also be remembered.

“We actually gathered the names of the victims of homicides and gun violence in Macon this year and we also gathered the names of the victims of police brutality nationwide, so we’ll be handing those names out on pieces of paper to people and allowing them to either paste it on one of the walls surrounding the Confederate statute or chalk it on the ground Rosa Park Square in a way to kind of have people connect to those who lost their lives,” Cleveland said.

Due to COVID-19, organizers will be giving out masks, bottled water and hand sanitizer, and they plan to start people walking as they arrive to encourage social distancing, Cleveland said.

For more information, visit maconfreedomforall.com on the Internet.

This story was originally published July 3, 2020 at 2:57 PM.