Protesters in Tacoma lie on street for nearly 9 minutes in show against social inequality
The intersection of Sprague and Division avenues was witness Wednesday to a city pained by social inequality and supportive of its abolishment.
For eight minutes and 46 seconds, 200 living but still bodies lie on the hot asphalt. That was the amount of time it took for George Floyd to lose his life in Minneapolis last week while a police officer knelt on his neck.
An hour after the “die in,” as a group of young protesters waited for a traffic light to change, the intersection became a barometer for the mood of ordinary Tacomans.
As vehicles drove past, drivers and passengers honked, waved, gave thumbs up and raised fists out of sunroofs.
The protesters were part of the Stand With Me/Stand Up Protest to Protect Tacoma March that began at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South 25th Street. It was organized by University of Washington Tacoma students Kalayah DeGregory and Elijah Henry.
“We’re here for justice, we’re here for peace, we’re here for equality,” said Henry, 21. “People are dying all over the world and the world is watching. We need to be better, we need to come together, we need to unify and this is where it starts.”
DeGregory, 22, said the protest is also a conversation. A box was set up at the starting point to collect written suggestions and requests for help.
“We are here to speak up and share our voice,” she said. “Be it through writing, through speaking or walking with your feet.”
The march was also created to memorialize Floyd and other national figures who have died at the hands of police. Henry and DeGregory added Manuel Ellis on Wednesday. Ellis died March 3 while being arrested by Tacoma police.
As the group marched west on Sixth Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, shows of support came from the street’s workers and residents:
▪ A funeral home worker raising her fist.
▪ A woman applauding from her porch.
▪ A mother who parked her car and hastily wrote “I Am With You” on a paper bag.
▪ An apron-wearing restaurant owner taking a knee.
Not all along the route were comfortable with the protesters.
A nervous restaurant owner asked a reporter if the group had caused any damage. Employees at a cannabis store dropped their roll-up doors.
A man, seeing a group of young black women holding signs, yelled at them from his passing truck.
“You guys are (messing with) my (stuff). I need to get my weed,” he yelled. And then as an afterthought, “All lives matter.”
At one point, three horses appeared on Sixth Avenue. Each carried riders with signs of support for Black Lives Matter.
The marchers were multiracial. But Pastor Antonio McLemore, who spoke before the march, had a message for white people.
“If you are going to call us and tell us you are sorry, this is what I want you to say,” he told the crowd. “You are sorry for being silent. You are sorry for not listening. You are sorry for being a fraud. You are sorry for not standing up against police brutality, for racism, for white supremacy.”
DeGregory took the megaphone.
“There are no more knees on necks,” she shouted.
And the crowd began to march.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 8:26 PM.
