An estimated 10,000 people packed the streets around Mission High School on Wednesday, then marched around the city to call for justice for George Floyd, killed on May 25 by Minneapolis police officers, and other black people and other people of color disproportionately killed by police. The protest was organized and led by youth, who had set up a stage on the steps of the school and made speeches, read poetry and led chants for several hours before the crowd began to move along 18th Street.
The protest wound its way through town and hundreds of demonstrators arrived in front of the Hall of Justice and City Hall, chanting, cheering and in some cases dancing well into the night. San Francisco Public Press reporters roamed the crowd, talking with demonstrators about what moved them to join the protest.This is part of a series of shows that collect perspectives from demonstrators. Listen to a previous episode here.
“I’m a black woman living in America. It’s that simple. I can’t ignore what’s been happening to my community for generations now. And I don’t know at this point what’s going to create change. I feel like we’ve tried everything, and I feel like this might be, you know, this might be the moment where things finally turn the corner. So I want to do what I can to push that change forward.”
— Safiya Walker
A segment from our radio show, “Civic.” Listen daily at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on 102.5 FM in San Francisco.
