LYNN — One year after the tragic murder of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, local activists are demanding that the urgent crisis of racial injustice in United States policing be taken seriously.
A vigil honoring Floyd’s memory was held Tuesday night at Red Rock Park by members of the nonprofit Diverse People United (DPU), which invited people to reflect on their experiences with systemic racism, police brutality and marginalization.
DPU President Anthony Coleman said he thinks Lynn has made some positive changes in law enforcement, but said the nation as a whole has a long way to go.
“We can’t live in this little fantasy island bubble thinking that ‘OK, Lynn is OK,” Coleman said. “This type of change is a collective effort and until situations like (Floyd’s) are an anomaly and they never happen, until that time becomes our reality, we need to keep fighting.”
Coleman pushed for the Black Lives Matter movement to continue growing, saying the reality of the country’s racist history should make people start fighting for real.
“I’ve been Black for 56 years, almost 57,” Coleman said. “If I am still here fighting, there’s a reason. I’m still thriving off of the energy from last year because… Black Lives Matter.”
DPU member Barbara Okeny said, speaking as a woman of color, oppression has forced her and other Black individuals to fear for their lives.
She listed multiple names of people of color who were killed by police officers before holding a moment of silence for the lives lost.
Acknowledging a history of intimidation and oppression from police officers and white supremacists, Okeny said it has taken witnessing Floyd’s murder to cause uprisings in communties to fight for change and equality.
“It takes an uprising from our communities and allies for any social justice to be met,” Okeny said.
Okeny also reflected on Ahmaud Arbery’s murder at the hands of two white supremacists in Georgia while he was on a run last year.
“He had to run for his life because they viewed him as a criminal, but it took several months for there even to be an arrest,” Okeny said.
Okeny said, like Arbery, she runs daily too.
“I run because the collective trauma endured due to systemic racism. I run even though I know I have asthma and weak knees that will impair me when I need to run for my life,” Okeny said. “I run for the countless Black men and women that couldn’t. I run even knowing that I can’t outrun a noose or a bullet.”
Yousef Hayes, a professor at North Shore Community College, said 400 years of settler colonialism has resulted in the unjust treatment of people of color.
Hayes said he hopes that in 50 years we’ll have to “explain to our children and grandchildren what oppression is because we will have transformed this world.”
He encouraged people to continue to fight for communities, including fighting for equality, affordable housing and free healthcare for all.
Councilor-at-Large candidate Marven Hyppolite said growing up in Lynn has made him realize how divided the city can be, and that he, too, experienced being racially profiled.
Hyppolite said the feelings of anger, rage, sadness and hopelessness fill him when he sees another innocent Black life killed. He reflected upon Trayvon Martin’s murder in 2012, saying that things clearly haven’t changed.
“It’s almost messed up to say ‘it took all of us watching what happened to George Floyd for us to get this movement really going,’” he said.
Hyppolite listed some progress made in the city, including incorporating police body cameras, getting a Black Lives Matter mural approved, and pushing for an unarmed crisis response team.
“These things are just a stepping stone and we just need to keep on fighting,” Hyppolite said. “Watching us all come together like this gives me hope. The one message I have is to keep on fighting because the fight’s not over.”
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
