Freedom for All Macon Solidarity Run + Walk 4K draws a mixed group of participants

Eleven-year-old Lizzy Chipley was busy filling in the “A” in the start line in yellow chalk just before the Freedom for All Macon Solidarity Run + Walk 4K in downtown on Saturday.

“It’s not fair that some people are just treated differently because of the color of their skin,” said the girl, who likes to run.

She came to the event with her mom, Stephanie Chipley, who said that the death of Ahmaud Arbery hit her daughter really hard.

“When you’re a runner, I think that’s very personal,” Stephanie Chipley said.

The 2.23 miles walk/run was in honor of 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.

Historical African-American markers along the route were highlighted during the walk/run. The story of John “Cocky” Glover, a Black man lynched in Macon in 1922, was also commemorated. Victims of gun violence were also remembered.

Co-founders Nancy Cleveland and Rachelle Wilson said they hope that by acknowledging some of Macon’s stories of racial injustices, the community can unite to build a better and brighter future together.

“It raises the awareness and also brings people together to commit to the future and to commit to that unity,” Wilson said.

Jason Timothy, 40, of Macon, came with his wife, niece, son and his son’s friend.

“We’re here to support,” Timothy said. “Thought it was important that if we have organizers willing to do something like this, that we get out and we participate.

“It’s important because it’s pretty evident that things need to change. It’s pretty evident that we’re sort of at a head, and I think it’s important because there’s a really good mixed culture of people asking for that change and I think we need to be a part of that energy,” he said.

Abigail Brown, 29, who’s from New York and now lives in Warner Robins, said she also came out to “support the cause.”

“For a while I felt like I was a bystander to the cause and I felt like this would be a great opportunity to see how many other people are supporting us, the Black community, and just kind of put it in perspective for myself,” Brown said.

“I kind of hope what will be accomplished is not so much of the little things that can appease the African-American community, but more of just a mindset. I’m hoping that people can see how much the African-American community cares about the African-American community and then within that, they can see that they need to care a little bit more, too,” she said.

Cleveland said she envisioned the event as an alternative to July 4th.

“In the Black community, we joke and say we weren’t free on July 4, 1776,” Cleveland told participants “We were slaves, and guess what slaves did? Slave work — meaning they picked cotton, built buildings, cleared land.

“That’s the stuff that we were doing and that’s why we say this country was built on the backs of slaves. When you live in a world where you’re constantly having to argue that, having to academically explain it, having to prove your point with articles that you weren’t even able to write because you weren’t allowed to read or write, like it becomes this crazy, hypocritical, frustrating world to live in,” she said.

So, Cleveland said she made a Facebook post.

“And I said who wants to help me with this idea? And I had a crazy amount of beautiful people, diverse people who I have personally been in contact with reach out to me and organize this event: Black, white, Asian, other,” she said. “It did not matter. So many people went into planning this event.”

Freedom for All received $7,000 in donations from the event, which Cleveland said the group plans to use to incorporate as a nonprofit. The group also wants to make the walk and run an annual event. Seventy-five people had signed in at the start of the run and walk. More participants were expected.