GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A protest can look like signs, yelling, marching, calling for change. But Friday evening in downtown Grand Rapids, it looked like all of that plus a celebration.
A unity march kicked off Friday’s events, with a couple hundred people gathering in Rosa Parks Circle to participate in another downtown demonstration. It was the fourth consecutive weekend that a big march like this took place in the city following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Following the march, Family Over Everything, a group that has maintained a presence on the corner of Monroe Avenue and Pearl Street NW every day for three weeks, hosted a Juneteenth celebration.
“With Juneteenth, it’s a holiday that rarely gets recognized and celebrated. And with everything going on it’s important for everyone in general to know you have a voice and your voice matters,” said DeUnique Dorris, the Vice President of Western Michigan University’s Open Mic.
Shortly after 6 p.m., speakers addressed the crowd at Rosa Parks Circle before the group headed out to march around the central downtown area. Alyssa Bates, the founder of Justice for Black Lives, said the merging of the march with the Juneteenth celebration was a way for people to decompress.
“Today is more of just like a celebration not only for Juneteenth but for our people as a whole,” she said.
The group marched for about 20 minutes, heading up Monroe Center before turning west on Fulton and heading north on Monroe Avenue.
U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, a Libertarian from the Grand Rapids area, participated in the march.
“The most important thing I can do is work on legislation and do things in Congress. But I also think it’s important that they see elected officials and representatives out marching and rallying with them,” he said. "At the end of the day, this is what's going to persuade people in Congress to change their minds; people marching, people protesting."
Other federal lawmakers have participated in the marches happening around the country, but this was Amash’s first time attending one in Grand Rapids. Amash has introduced legislation to end qualified immunity, which is a legal doctrine that helps protect law enforcement from liability.
At 7 p.m. the crowd reconvened at the corner of Monroe Avenue and Pearl Street where the Juneteenth celebration got started with a drag show performance.
"We just wanted to give a space, not only for us to stand out here protesting like we have been doing for the last three weeks, but to also celebrate the goodness that it is to be a free person in this place," said DeeDee Chaunte with FOE.
Juneteenth is the annual celebration marking the end of slavery in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 is recognized as the end of slavery, but the holiday commemorating the freedom of African Americans was recognized only after the last slaves were told about the order more than two years later.
At the corner, there was also 500 hot dogs, water, spoken word and poetry from Black artists, music and Zumba. Some of the initial crowd dispersed, but many remained in the area either holding up their signs and chanting at passing cars or just enjoying the celebration.
Trevin Gibson, also with FOE, said they joined with the march organizers to encourage a different crowd of people to come out, those who might be scared to protest.
"Throughout a lot of things happening right now in society and police brutality on Black people, specifically, I think this shows that we are capable of fighting for something and we're not going to stop. We're going to be a voice and a presence," said Gibson.
Al Willis is working as a liaison between police and city officials and many of the groups involved in the recent protests and demonstrations. He said that Friday’s event could be viewed as a traditional protest, but really it was about unity.
“This is an African American holiday, but it is the African American holiday that is celebrated by all people—similar to the Fourth of July. It’s just our Fourth of July; it’s just our independence today. And we want the entire community to come out and be a part of it,” he said.
While some danced and ate, others took the four street corners at Pearl and Monroe to continue protesting.
"It's like a constant battle," said Chaniya Clark. "We have to just continuously keep going until we get the change that we want."
Clark said over-policing in predominately Black neighborhoods in Grand Rapids is a starting point for reform.
Change for protester Carmen Martin starts with the arrest of the officers who killed Breonna Taylor, a Grand Rapids native who was shot in her Louisville apartment.
"Not just arrest, convict. She was asleep," said Martin.
This Juneteenth celebration was one of several happening in Grand Rapids on Friday.
Willis, the founder of the Citizens Leadership Council, said he and some of the other protest organizers sat down with Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Payne this week to talk about some of the changes they’d like to see. When Willis addressed the crowd, he mentioned how positive this meeting was but urged City Manager Mark Washington and Mayor Rosalynn Bliss to attend the next one.
JBL planned a children’s march for Saturday morning, which will begin at the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. From there, Willis says he is looking forward to having continued conversations with law enforcement and city leaders.
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