Numerous protests planned for Washington DC on Independence Day
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Activists are planning major protests and demonstrations in Washington DC over Independence Day weekend, the Washington Examiner reports. Summing up the reason for the protests, one activist told the Examiner: “What is Independence Day to black folks? What was Independence Day to honestly anyone but the white economic elite on [July 4, 1776]? Poor folks and women couldn’t even vote. It’s a hoax.”
Many protestors are expected to focus on the Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park. A local protest collective called the Freedom Neighborhood has been trying to remove the statue, which shows Abraham Lincoln freeing slave Archer Alexander. According to the Washington Examiner, the move to take down the statue has support among D.C. public officials. “Shadow Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton on Thursday introduced legislation to have the statue removed from the park and placed in a museum. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said last week that she would be open to having a “reasonable conversation” about the statue’s future,” the Examiner reported Friday.
Among the numerous protests planned for DC on July 4 is the ‘Million Man March on Washington.’ The event is described as a “peaceful” protest marching from the Martin Luther King Memorial to the White House.
The July 4 demonstrations will also include the ‘George Floyd Memorial March on Washington.’ This event’s Facebook page explains that this march will be “In loving memory of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other victims of the racist and diabolical acts performed by the country’s police force.” Participants are asked to wear a mask due to the COVID-19 outbreak and are encouraged to be “loud, fearless, and to make an impression.”
Concerning violence, the Memorial organizers said: “While we plan for this event to be relatively peaceful, we cannot guarantee that the actions of everyone will be as such. Acts of violence, of any kind, are not condoned or promoted by this event.”
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