"I'm going to go to the protest today!" Little did I know, that May 29, 2020 was going to be one of the most thrilling and powerful days I will experience in my 24 years of living. It has been 4 days since the horrific viral video of George Floyd having his life unlawfully taken away by a Minnesota police officer. People of all races banded together amidst the coronavirus pandemic to show support for George Floyd and protest against police brutality in the United States. Here in Philadelphia, PA we made our voices heard. A day of protests that started peaceful, ended in burned buildings, exploding cars, looted stores, and vandalized Philadelphia monuments. As I weaved through protest marches on my skateboard, I captured as much of the action I could on my camera. Check out the amazing images I was able to capture.
The day started at City Hall with a peaceful protest. People stood together with protest signs and fist in the air. We started at City Hall, then marched to the Art Museum where speeches were made and people voiced their frustrations with ongoing police brutality towards black people. The crowd then marched back towards City Hall eventually ending up at the intersection of Broad and Vine St. In this intersection, I watched the peaceful protest turn into an angry riot right before my eyes.
The presence of police aggravated the crowd causing an uproar and turning the peaceful protest into a riot.
Rioters set cars and buildings on fire right in front of City Hall. The exploding cars sounded like fireworks on the fourth of July, and black smoke from the cars filled the skies.
Statues of prominent figures in Philadelphia history were vandalized during the uproar. The crowd especially focused on the statue dedicated to Philadelphia's former Mayor Frank L. Rizzo. Mayor Frank Rizzo was not popular amongst black people. He was thought to be a brutal mayor during his tenure, often promoting police violence. He was also the mayor that spearheaded the M.O.V.E. bombing in West Philadelphia, in 1985. The protesters tried multiple attempts to tear it down.
The death of George Floyd by the hands of the Minnesota Police Department sparked a fire underneath the whole nation. With everyone stuck in the house due to quarantine, we were forced to watch his murder and we could not carry on with our lives like the countless murders before him. We had to sit with that video on our conscious. It forced people of all races to stop and realize the one of the ongoing issues in America and come together to try and put a stop to police brutality. I had mixed emotions while being in attendance to see the events that transpired on May, 29, 2020. I was proud to be out in the streets protesting for my people, but I was also upset that we are still fighting for our right to live and be treated fairly by police in 2020.
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