“No justice; no peace”

Like many cities across the United States recently, Mexia held a protest Wednesday against racism and police brutality. An estimated 150- 180 people met at the Mexia Civic Center at 6 p.m., with leaders speaking on the steps of the Center and the main group gathering on the opposite side of McKinney.

Most of the participants were African American, but about 10-15 percent were white or Hispanic, including parents with their children.

A good number of the attendees held signs with messages like “Black Lives Matter,” “Unity in the Community,” “We Stand With You,” “Could My Son Be Next,” and “I Can’t Breathe.” The latter referred to George Floyd, a Houston man in Minneapolis who pleaded for air with a Minneapolis Police Officer on May 25 as he was being held on the ground after an arrest, the officer’s foot on Floyd’s neck. The officer kept Floyd pressed to the ground, and within a few minutes, Floyd died.

The actions of those Minneapolis police officers have been almost universally condemned, and the four were later arrested, the main offender charged with second degree murder and manslaughter; and the other three finally charged with aiding and abetting. The arrests were not immediate, however, but took place later, which infuriated many.

Subsequent protests in large cities across the nation were marred by the outbreak of violent riots. Mexia’s protest, however, remained nonviolent, with an atmosphere of sincere prayer and an admonition to attendees to be peaceful and that there was to be no destruction or looting of any kind.

Although the subject matter was serious, the mood was friendly, and organizers Marquise Lee and Freddie Greer Sr. pledged ahead of time there would be no violence.

Standing on the steps of the Civic Center were Lee, Greer and Tyrell Hobbs, who is a Groesbeck police officer and also pastor of Thornton’s Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church.

After Lee read a poem about attaining respect for African Americans and about African Americans realizing their own self-worth, he quoted verses from the Bible about not repaying evil for evil.

Hobbs said a prayer before the marchers took off, reminding people the event was to be peaceful and that people were accountable for their own actions.

The marchers walked east on Main then left on Red River, walking across Milam with Mexia police blocking the highway until the marchers had safely crossed. One of the small Mexia Fire Department trucks led the marchers across the busy thoroughfare. The protesters then turned left onto Sumpter and eventually made their way back across Milam and back the way they had come, ending up at the Civic Center again.

About 10-12 cars and trucks followed the marchers, most holding people who were not up to the exertion of walking so far in the heat and humidity.

As the marchers walked, they shouted chants like, “No justice; no peace” and “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”

Before the march began, several attendees shared why they were there and what they hoped to accomplish by being in the protest march.

Shire Lee said she was there, “for Black Lives Matter, for the little kid that got killed (Waco’s Baby Frankie), for George Floyd – he got killed – and many others that they killed. We are here trying to represent our people and everybody else, all races. We ain’t trying to be racist, so I’m going to do it for everybody; so I hope everybody else will do the same thing.”

“I’m just here because I want to show my support for my brothers and sisters,” said John Turpin “Regardless of what color they are, they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to be with them and do what I can do to show them that we support them and respect them and love them.”

A.J. Mack, a little boy age 10, said he was present “to end racism and to support black lives.”

“I’m here to protest for the Black Lives Matter movement” said Deja Stroud. “We’re hoping to accomplish the end of police brutality against African American males – and females. Around here we get stopped a lot for no reason sometimes, but I haven’t seen anything physical.”

Another person present, Cory Henry, said, “I’m just here to show support for everybody. I’m angry, too, about what’s going on in the world today, and that’s why I’m here. I’m angry about the state-sanctioned violence against – anyone, really, but it’s hard to miss that it’s mostly directed toward people of color, and it’s not right.”

He said the death of George Floyd was the tipping point that brought people there that day.

“It’s not just about George Floyd,” Henry continued. “It’s about everything that’s happened since the Civil Rights movement until right now. For all that people would like to see a change, not much has really changed. We’ve had so much time to come so far, but we haven’t. We’ve hardly taken a step in the right direction. Maybe with all of this, we will take a step in the right direction.”

Someone else who shared his thoughts was A.D. Shakur: “I’m hoping the people will take notice of the situation that’s facing the country at hand today and that change will come about,” he said. “I’m hoping to see more unity between black and white, and hopefully make some progress from the conversation that’s been taking place in the country.”

When the marchers returned to the Civic Center, there was more speaking, in which people exhorted those listening to register to vote so they could effect political changes that would decrease racism and put an end to police brutality.

“My main purpose,” Marquise Lee said, “is just to spread awareness the best way we can in the most positive way we can, just to simply get our voices out there, get our faces out there, so people can hear what we stand for, so people can see who we are, not just a color. I wanted everybody to gather in unity and I wanted to do this together and walk through Mexia. I wanted to fill the streets up where we live.

“We’re part of a community,” Lee continued, “we’re part of your community; we’re part of everybody’s community. I want people to know that we’re more than just a color: we’re more than what you think or assume of us. We’re nurses, doctors, teachers; we’re everything you are.”

“In Unity We Have Strength” is the name of our march,” Greer said. “Basically what I wanted is to see everybody come together. It doesn’t matter what color or race you are, we are all one person, so we all need to come together and stop the madness. Yes, it was sad what happened. I’m just hoping – this event here is for everybody, no particular race. It’s for all races: we’re all one. It’s a peaceful protest against police brutality. I don’t think we have as much here in Limestone County, but in other areas we do. I would like to address it. Like I always tell people, ‘Let’s address something before it does happen.’ That way we can stop the problem before it happens.”