With the luxury shopping mall
Somerset Collection as a back-
drop and across the street from
a boarded-up Saks Fifth Avenue
establishment, approximately 500
predominantly young protesters of
all races broke the typical calm of
a Monday afternoon in the Metro
Detroit suburb of Troy, Mich.,
chanting, “No justice, no peace, no
racist police.”
Almost all donning face masks,
they joined hundreds of thousands
of people in major cities across the
United States and across the world
in peaceful protest of the killing
of an unarmed Black man, George
Floyd, by a white police officer,
among other documented acts of
police brutality. No Troy police
officers were seen wearing a mask,
though The Daily cannot verify
every officer on the scene did not
have a mask.
In its entirety, protesters were at
the Big Beaver Road and Coolidge
Road area for about four and a half
hours and remained peaceful the
entire time, though about 30 pro-
testers who stayed at the end were
told by Troy police officers they
would be arrested if they did not
leave the intersection. None of the
protesters were arrested, though
the Troy Police Department arrest-
ed one person, a 68-year-old male
from Troy who intentionally struck
a protester with his car. According
to the Troy Police Department, the
victim had no apparent injuries.
Troy is about a half-hour drive
to Detroit. It is one of the many
suburbs of Metro Detroit that grew
wealthier from white flight in the
mid-1900s — the mass movement
of white families from cities to
the suburbs in fear their property
values would deteriorate as Black
neighbors moved in — and is now
the largest city in Oakland County,
one of the richest counties in the
country. According to 2019 census
estimates, it is about 68 percent
white — and just under 4 percent
Black.
Most of the protesters arrested
in Detroit in the last several nights
of protest there were from its sub-
urbs. According to Troy protest
organizer Marshele Parker, this
move to protest in the suburbs of
Detroit was an intentional choice
among the organizers.
“We started seeing people on
social media saying, ‘Why don’t we
bring it to the cities that we actu-
ally know hurt us more than the
city of Detroit?’” Parker said. “So
that’s when we decided to all come
to Troy. We decided to go to Som-
erset because it’s one of those big
malls in Michigan. And because of
the systematic oppression in place,
the Black dollar doesn’t stretch
that far, and when it does, it goes to
their favorite mall such as Somer-
set with all the glitz and the glam.”
Somerset Collection was closed
all day Monday in anticipation of
the protest. In a statement to The
Oakland Press, Somerset spokes-
man Peter Van Dyke said the clo-
sure was taken as a necessary
safety precaution for everyone
involved.
“Somerset Collection values and
supports freedom of speech and
peaceful protest,” Van Dyke said.
The event was organized by the
Black Activist Movement Network,
a new group formed by Parker
and other Black college women:
Rebekah Long, Cameron Simp-
son and Joy Mosley. For over two
hours, the crowd of several hun-
dred protesters, mainly students
who lived in the surrounding area,
walked around the Coolidge Road
and Big Beaver Road intersec-
tion, then down Big Beaver Road
towards the Troy Civic Center.
Many held posters denouncing
police brutality and anti-Black rac-
ism, chanting as cars around them
filled the afternoon with honks of
support.
Among the suburbs, Parker said
Troy was chosen as the site for
their protest because of word-of-
mouth about racist interactions
with the Troy police.
2
Thursday, June 4, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
Demonstration in
Troy: ‘We need to be
where the silence is’
While
the
COVID-19
pandemic rages on and social
life has come to a stall, cities
across the United States are
drawing
passionate
crowds
demanding justice, peace and
an end to police brutality
against Black people.
George Floyd, a Black man,
was
killed
in
Minneapolis
police custody on May 25 after
a white police officer kept his
knee on Floyd’s neck for eight
minutes and 46 seconds. Three
other officers participated in
the killing. A private autopsy
confirmed the death was a
homicide and a result of not
only choking, but also pressure
on Floyd’s back from the other
officers who pinned him down.
While on a jog, Ahmaud
Arbery was shot outside of
Brunswick, Ga., after being
chased by an armed white
father and son, who believed
he was a burglar, on Feb. 23.
According
to
the
Georgia
Bureau of Investigation, the
two
assailants
have
been
arrested and charged with
murder
and
aggravated
assault.
GBI
also
arrested
William Bryan Jr., the person
who filmed the viral video of
Arbery’s killing.
In
Washtenaw
County,
Sha’Teina
Grady
El
was
punched in the head multiple
times by a police officer while
her husband, Dan Grady El, was
tased when both resisted being
physically removed from the
scene of a potential shooting.
These are only some of the
recent crimes of racism and
police brutality.
Robert
Sellers,
chief
diversity
officer
and
vice
provost
for
equity
and
inclusion at the University of
Michigan, released a statement
addressing
recent
events
against the Black community
titled “I Am So Tired.” In his
address, Sellers detailed his
sentiments of being African
American in light of recent
events and reflected on his
parents’ guidance as a kid.
“What my recollections of
my parents’ example did do was
provide me with a perspective,
a lens through which I can
view and understand all that is
happening now,” Sellers wrote.
“This lens reminds me that this
struggle is not new, nor is it
likely to be won in my life time.
Sadly, it is likely that more
Black people will die before
we become the country that
remotely resembles the one
described in our constitution.
This lens also reminds me that
this country is MY country. My
ancestors sacrificed their lives
in building this country.”
Students describe
protest experiences
Read more at michigandaily.com
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As calls for justice fill
the nation, read first-
hand narratives
About 500 march in
Metro Detroit suburb