Over 2,000 people crowded the
Diag on Friday to celebrate June-
teenth, the day when African slaves
in Texas were told they were free ––
two years after the Emancipation
Proclamation. This event, hosted
by Survivors Speak and other local
organizers, aimed to incorporate
awareness for police brutality into a
day of celebration.
Event organizer Trische’ Duck-
worth, Survivors Speak founder,
told The Daily even though June-
teenth is a day of celebrating the
progress
in
America
towards
equality, Black people are continu-
ously fighting racism and systemic
oppression.
“You think about Juneteenth
being a celebration, but what are
we really celebrating? Because
although we’re free, we’re not real-
ly free,” Duckworth said. “Because
there are laws that are put in place
to stop us as melanated folks to have
freedom and justice for all. So while
we did want to celebrate and that’s
why we ended with the dance party,
we also wanted to focus on what’s
going on in the world right now and
how we have to come together as a
people to fight for justice and use
it as a call to action and then end it
with a small, short celebration.”
After an open letter was sent to
University President Mark Schlis-
sel by School of Education staff
members to encourage the Univer-
sity to recognize Juneteenth as a
national holiday in the workplace,
many schools within the Univer-
sity allowed their staff early dis-
missal to participate in Juneteenth
events. An email was also sent by
Robert Sellers, chief diversity offi-
cer and vice provost for equity and
inclusion, encouraging University
employees to allow staff to partici-
pate in Juneteenth events.
Speakers and performers at the
protest included politicians, Washt-
enaw County residents and local
artists.
Former Michigan gubernatorial
candidate Abdul El-Sayed spoke
about reaching out against injustice
and breaking the barriers of a racist
society.
“So we see that it’s been 155 years
since we abolished, finally, the idea
of (Black people) being concluded as
part of what was private property,”
El-Sayed said. “Well we’ve got a lot
more work to be including Black
folks … We are here today because
that work is not over. We are here
today because as we recognize as we
stand on the floor of that moment,
we all better reach out fists up high
to break the ceiling that tell us that
Black folks should be excluded, can
be excluded, could be excluded.”
Eli Savit, Washtenaw County
prosecutor candidate, talked about
the school to prison pipeline. Savit
referenced the book “The New Jim
Crow,” when discussing how the
U.S. criminal justice system is the
modern day slavery that prevents
Black people from having freedom.
“70 percent of the children in
our juvenile detention centers are
black,” Savit said. “Is the school to
prison pipeline still freedom? And
freedom does not come about even
after somebody is released from
prison or from jail. In the ‘New Jim
Crow,’ Michelle Alexander made
the case that we have replaced the
old Jim Crow, the formal laws in the
South, for a new Jim Crow in which
we deny people coming back from
prison (and) jails the opportunity
to maintain jobs, to get housing, to
continue their education.”
Halfway through the march,
protesters kneeled in front of the
Ann Arbor Municipal Center for
eight minutes and 46 seconds to
commemorate the death of George
Floyd. Once the crowd reached the
Diag again, people were dancing
and celebrating Juneteenth.
LSA and STAMPS senior Valerie
Le said people should look into the
history of America for themselves
because much of it is whitewashed,
which is why she never heard of
Juneteenth before college.
“I think that people should rec-
ognize that history is so much deep-
er than what we’ve been taught,” Le
said. “Especially growing up in a
super white town, I’ve never heard
of Juneteenth before and (did) not
learn a lot about Black history. I
think it’s important to learn about
2
Thursday, June 25, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
Thousands march
in A2 on Juneteenth
The Daily sent reporters
to
various
protests
across
Michigan
throughout
the
week. Here are the protests we
covered.
Breonna Taylor Protest on
Diag on Sunday, June 14, 2020
About a do0zen community
members spread across the
Diag in sleeping bags Sunday to
honor the memory of Breonna
Taylor. Taylor, a 26-year-old
Black woman, was shot and
killed by a Louisville police
officer who entered her home
with a “no-knock warrant”
in March. The event lasted
eight hours in remembrance
of the eight times Taylor was
shot. Organizers encouraged
Black protesters to set up their
sleeping bags in the middle of
the Diag. Non-Black protesters
were asked to encircle the
resting protesters and watch
for any potential agitators.
The block “M” in the middle
of the Diag was covered by a
blanket.
University
of
Michigan
Social Work student Dana
Pittman, Association of Black
Social Workers member, was
part of the team that helped
organize the protest. Pittman
emphasized that the protest
on
the
Diag
emphasized
resting for Black people who
are fighting racism and to
symbolize Breonna Taylor’s
death.
“Today, we really wanted
to highlight the importance
of rest and Black rest (and)
Black bodies. Rest shouldn’t
be revolutionary, it should
just be a right,” Pittman said.
“But sadly, we are not afforded
that because we always have
to fight and we always have
to do the work so we invited
other people to support us
in the work so that we didn’t
have to continuously inform
them … rest is something we
really (want) to center in this
protest.”
Social Work student Leslie
Tetteh, Association of Black
Social Workers member, also
helped organize the protest.
Tetteh told The Daily being
active in dismantling racism
can be tiring and taxing on
Black people who constantly
experience prejudice and they
are doing the best they can
when it seems more violence is
continuing to occur.
“For
me,
what’s
been
difficult is the overwhelming
feeling of what we’re doing,”
Tetteh said. “I think that we
all are very active in terms
of
everything
that’s
going
on (and) making sure we
Protests in Mich.
continue strong
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Different events
throughout the week
call attention to BLM
Over 2,000 people
gathered on the Diag to
celebrate June 19