600 days: daily demonstrations honor Martin Luther King Jr. 54 years after his death
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WOOSTER – Nearly 20 demonstrators stood at the square in downtown Wooster between the piles of snow waving at passersby. Strong 18 mph gusts threatened to blow signs away as the frigid low 20s temperatures kept many bundled up.
Despite the Level 2 snow emergency and winter storm warning, the daily Black Lives Matter demonstrators would not miss the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday. This week also marks 600 days of daily demonstrations.
"It is about consistency and it is valuable to be here every day," said Andy VanDeusen. "It's special to be here on MLK Day."
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To honor King, members of the Wayne County Racial Justice Coalition and Wooster-Orrville NAACP gathered in downtown Wooster for a daily demonstration and to hear from three local speakers.
Oliver Warren first spoke to the rally-goers on Monday.
"I'm tired and exhausted," said Warren, the first vice president of the Wooster-Orrville NAACP. "Our biggest achievement is raising awareness that racism exists in daily life."
Nearly 10 years after Treyvon Martin died and around 600 days since George Floyd died, Warren said the Black Lives Matter movement will not stop.
For him, this movement is historic and is part of the larger Black freedom movements that date back to the civil rights movement and the days of slavery and abolitionism.
600 days of engagement
A woman pulled up in a pickup truck, halting traffic on North Market Street.
"Do you believe children's lives matter?" she asked as two demonstrators neared her car.
"Why don't you come back down here so we can talk about it?" replied one demonstrator.
A few minutes after she drove away, another man in a semi-truck yelled from his window, "All lives matter."
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In response, demonstrators yelled, "Thank you" and "Happy Martin Luther King Day."
As the rallies near 600 days, some demonstrators reflected on their experience and how they approach negative comments.
"We can't meet people with anger because that's not how you change their minds," said Dave Griffith. "What we can do is engage with them and have a conversation."
For Griffith and his colleagues like Désirée Weber on the square, the demonstration isn't just about changing minds, it is about promoting a more inclusive and just culture for people of color and women in a society that historically has let them down.
"Change takes time, and while 600 days is a lot of days, it's not a lot of time given the history and context of the struggle," Weber said.
Reach Bryce by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com
On Twitter: @Bryce_Buyakie
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Black Lives Matter demonstrators honor Martin Luther King Jr.
