Black Lives Matter protests are to create permanent change in Belleville, organizers say
As a small crowd of protesters gathered with signs and raised fists in front of the St. Clair County courthouse in downtown Belleville on Wednesday, rally organizer Nikki Hughes thanked them all for being there.
“You could be sitting at home watching TV, but instead you’re here fighting,” the 20-year-old told the group through a megaphone.
It was the third week in a row that protesters had gathered outside the courthouse building on a Wednesday to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Though the crowd size has dwindled each week, Hughes said it’s a positive sign that people in the city continue to show up to protests in their community.
“We do this here instead of going to protest elsewhere because this is our home,” she said shortly before the protest began. “We’re just asking for it to feel like that for all people.”
Randi Goodwin, 19, has attended multiple protests in Belleville since the death of George Floyd in custody of Minneapolis police last month. She continues to show up, she said, because she knows it’s important to step and use her voice in her own community.
“Now more than ever, I want to be with my people,” she said. “Belleville’s not perfect.”
Goodwin said she had an uncle who was a victim of police brutality and living through that experience has been a driving factor in her ask for change.
“It’s not enough just to be on social media,” she said. “Being on the front lines shows your passion, and I’m happy we have so many people - non-Black people of color, members of the LGBTQIA community, white people - coming out in the heat because our voices are stronger together.”
People need to be reminded that the Black Lives Matter protests are a movement, not a moment, Hughes said.
“It’s easy to do something while it’s popular, but support usually drops when something stops trending,” she said, noting that big-name companies that were previously silent on racial issues have seized this opportunity to post about Black Lives Matter but are now back to “business as usual.”
“If we want to see change in Belleville, we have to keep rallying and speaking out,” she said. “If no change comes from this, it means nothing.”
Another organizer, 21-year-old Tommia Douglas, said that she wants to see that change happen for future Black residents. She recently moved back to Belleville from Chicago.
“I want to come home and feel safe here,” she said. “I don’t want to leave until I know it’s safe for my friends’ kids, my cousins, my future kids and everyone else.”
During the protest, Hughes addressed the crowd and encouraged them to keep the momentum going, saying they have “no choice” but to keep protesting.
“As long as I live, I will be Black and I can’t change that,” she yelled. “So I have to change the rules and everything around it.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 2:35 PM.
.jpg)