There’s a “White People Say: Black Lives Matter” Sign Hanging Over I-676
Photo | Philly Showing Up for Racial Justice
A giant sheet reading “White People Say: Black Lives Matter” hangs over I-676 this morning as delegates and other attendees pour into the city for the third day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
The Philadelphia chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national organization, claims in a statement that they hung the sign in attempt to convince the “the hearts and minds of the delegates – powerful people pouring in to power breakfasts, panels, and meetings – to stop their silence, and to start working for the value of black lives in Philadelphia, and in their communities at home.”
“As white people, we support the Black Lives Matter movement,” the statement reads. “We call on the Democratic Party to take action during the next administration’s first one hundred days to make racial equity and justice a priority on par with economic equality.”
The organizers are all white, according to the statement, which also references the recent death of Philando Castile. Organizers did not offer their names in order to “call attention to the voices of those mothers and others mourning black lives that did not matter in our system.”
Last night at the DNC, Mothers of the Movement featured a series of emotional and stirring speeches by the mothers of black men whose deaths have sparked international dialogue on police brutality. The speeches prompted shouts of “Black Lives Matter!” from the audience.
over 676 right now #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention #BlackLivesMatter @PhillySurj pic.twitter.com/X3q2bRdPpn
— hannahsassaman (@hannahsassaman) July 27, 2016
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