Faith leaders, doctors, and even a third-grader led demonstrations across the region Sunday, the latest movements in the nationwide wave of demonstrations against structural racism and police brutality after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
“Evil forces want to maintain racial division, and they will destroy this nation to do it," the Rev. John Borders of Morning Star Baptist Church said at a prayer service held on Boston Common. “But guess what? The devil is on a leash.”
About 1,000 people attended the mid-afternoon service at the Parkman Bandstand, one of more than a dozen rallies, vigils, and protests held in the area Sunday. Former New England Patriot Ben Watson said those in attendance were "upset and rightly so. We want those who have been marginalized to be treated fairly.”
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But some speakers said they were hopeful that this moment of unrest, amid a global pandemic, could be a turning point in America’s legacy of racial disparity.
“COVID-19 and 1619 are meeting us in this park today,” said Chris Causey of Encounter Church, speaking of the year the first slaves arrived in America. “It may be 400 years too late, but we serve a God of mercy, a God of compassion, a God who meets us when we turn to him.”
From village greens to the streets of Washington, DC, protests across the country have become part of the fabric of daily life this spring, after Floyd, a Black man, was killed in Minneapolis on May 25 by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged in his death. Protests have also centered on the killings of other Black Americans by police, such as 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor of Louisville, killed by police, as well as other racial inequities in policing, the economy, and society at large.
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“The brutality is a symptom. The root is racism,”said Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer at a protest in her city Sunday. “That is ingrained in everything we do — whether it’s housing, education, jobs. We’ve got to shift that paradigm.”
At the Boston Public Library, doctors with the Association of Pakistani Physicians of New England and Indian Medical Association of New England were among the organizations that led a late-afternoon demonstration that drew some 300 participants, many dressed in white coats and scrubs. Organizers of the “#WhiteCoats4BlackLives” rally called for research into the health effects of racism, noting the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black Americans, and other initiatives to “end racial discrimination in medical care.”
“I believe every doctor is an advocate,” Dr. Asimah Qayyum of MetroWest Physician Services said. “We stand united in the belief that we should fight for equal justice and opportunity.”
Around 5:30 p.m., protesters began slowly calling out the names of Black men and women who were killed by police. The event was peaceful, disrupted only by a verbal altercation in nearby Copley Plaza. Police arrived and the dispute quickly ended.
Health care workers in Rhode Island also led a march to the State House in Providence, “in support of making our health care system more just and equitable,” joining with another group of protesters holding a die-in at the same site. Video on social media showed doctors in white coats arriving near the State House as a crowd of hundreds chanted “Black lives matter.”
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The Rhode Island health care workers circulated a petition pledging to “listen to and believe my patients when they say they’ve experienced racism” and calling on various health care institutions in the state to “directly attack racism as a public health crisis." Among the demands were higher budgets for the state’s network of community health centers, and more diversity in health care hiring.
While the protest movement has featured massive marches drawing protesters by the thousands in major cities, it has also been defined by smaller grass-roots rallies in neighborhoods and towns. Several such events were held around Greater Boston Sunday.
In Somerville’s Powderhouse Park, more than a dozen people gathered around 2 p.m., holding signs and waving at passing cars. The rally was organized by 9-year-old Naomi Nurenberg, a third-grader at the Benjamin G. Brown School.
“I don’t really think it’s right that police are shooting Black people so I decided that our school should know about it and do a protest,” Nurenberg said.
According to Nurenberg’s mother, Liana Tuller, the girl began planning Sunday’s gathering about a week ago after watching others protest in Arlington. In an e-mail distributed by the school officials, Nurenberg encouraged attendees to bring signs, wear masks, and stand six feet apart to help minimize the spread of the coronavirus.
“I’m proud of Naomi for wanting to organize this event and I’m glad our community wants to stand up for the Black Lives Matter movement and fight for justice,” said Tuller, who added later that the crowd eventually grew to more than 130.
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And in Concord, about 30 people marched the Battle Road trail to Lexington on Sunday morning, holding signs and wearing shirts in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The event’s organizer, Stephanie Upham, said the event was meaningful on two levels.
On one hand, it’s a symbol of revolution, she said. “I view George Floyd as the name heard around the world, and this is where the shot heard around the world was," Upham said.
But Concord and Lexington are largely white with small Black populations, she noted, adding that it is important for white demonstrators to show their support for the movement. Most all the marchers at the event appeared to be white.
“It’s important that even those who have no experience, or don’t know anyone who has had the experience [of Black Americans], come to the forefront,” Upham said.
A candlelight vigil was planned on Wollaston Beach in Quincy, while organizers had other events scheduled in a scattering of communities including Falmouth and Maynard.