Hundreds of demonstrators demanding an end to police brutality and racism filled Fountain Square in Evanston Sunday afternoon, some spilling into the surrounding streets and blocks as they tried to keep appropriate social distancing.
Several local groups joined together to organize the Rally to Support Black Lives, a continuation of widespread protests following the killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.
More than a dozen people spoke to the crowd about the importance of understanding the history of racism, the need for police reform and ways that people can take action.
“We’ve been screaming this for over 400 years,” said Jared Davis, one of the rally organizers. “For whatever reason, other people have not wanted to believe us.”
Attendees held signs emblazoned with the words, “Black Lives Matter,” “Defund the police” and “No justice, no peace.” The names of people of color who have died at the hands of law enforcement over the years covered the sidewalks in colorful chalk.
Nick Davis, Jared Davis’ son, spoke, urging a push to redistribute police funds to community resources. He also addressed police directly, saying it’s not enough to “not be a bad cop.” Rather, he said, police must actively work from within to change the system.
“You cannot wash your hands of culpability … if you’re not doing everything you can to rid us of the racist, murderous colleagues and unjust laws that you swore an oath to uphold,” Nick Davis said.
Police Chief Demitrous Cook followed Davis in the lineup of speakers and acknowledged the need for reform in the system, saying the police department “can’t run from injustice.” He also said the duty of making things right lies with police and with the community.
“If a police officer is correct under the law, I’m going to stand up for him,” he said. “But if he’s wrong, I’m going to do what I’m supposed to do in terms of discipline.”
Speakers also touched on racial inequities in healthcare access, especially deadly for people of color as the world faces the coronavirus pandemic. Speakers reminded attendees to try to abide by the small blue tape marks on the ground showing proper social distancing and also asked that people offer water to those around them who might be struggling under the beating afternoon sun.
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Corey Winchester teaches history and sociology at Evanston Township High School and talked to the crowd about the need to support all black lives, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. He also called out for white allies to break their silence and step up to join in the fight against racism.
“I did not cause [the fight],” he said. “I did not start it. I didn’t ask for it. Your ancestors did, and it’s the inheritance that we all have. This is yours to help solve.”
Another speaker, Cook County Judge Lionel Jean Baptiste, encouraged people to continue studying and learning about racism and to keep fighting to reform society. His words and the words of other speakers were echoed by demonstrators shouting out that the world could not go back to “normal” after this.
“While we suffer setbacks, the motion forward is the absolute,” Jean Baptiste said. “We are never going to go backward. We’re going to go forward.”
Jude Laude spoke of the trauma black people have endured for hundreds of years and the need for a new blueprint with more black representation. He ended by asking demonstrators to raise their fists as he led them in a song from Angola as a tribute to the lives lost at the hands of police.
“The fist means when you bring the fingers together and you clench them, it’s harder to separate us,” he said.
The rally, scheduled to end at 4 p.m., lasted a little longer than planned. Organizers had tried limiting speakers to around four minutes each, Jared Davis said, but they let the speakers run their course. Davis said that was important to do because black men’s voices, when amplified, are often perceived in an “angry black man” narrative rather than as someone expressing concerns and fears.
“How many black men do you know that actually get a platform to be able to speak to more than 10, 15, 20, 100 people and say what it is they need to say?” he said.
Yashin Phillips lives in Waukegan but attended the rally in Evanston, where she grew up and has spent most of her life. When she thinks of her hometown, she thinks of diversity and people who want to bring forth change.
She said she enjoyed seeing people of all races come together for the rally, but while “it’s easy for people to come out (and) … to make signs,” she’s waiting to see what will come after — how the community is going to vote, push for changes in law and hold officials accountable.
“I just really want to see change after this,” she said. “All of those people out there in the crowd holding up signs — be there. Continue to be there throughout the rest of the journey.”
Twitter: @kaitlinedquist