Days of apprehension over the possibility of what might happen dissipated Friday as several hundred people turned out for a peaceful protest and unity rally on the Clarkesville Square.
The event was pulled together from a loosely organized protest that was announced on social media. Building on that momentum, Habersham Ninth Grade Academy teacher Leslie Terrell helped pull together a lineup of speakers, singers, and one dynamic dancer.
Three words
A small group of protesters began gathering in Clarkesville around mid-afternoon on June 5. They staged a peaceful protest, making and waving signs at passing cars denouncing police brutality and racism. Many of the protesters who showed up said they came, “to show the rest of the world how it’s done.” More people joined them, and from late afternoon to just before nightfall, they let their voices be heard.
Some of the loudest voices rose from the signs people made and the t-shirts they wore bearing slogans such as “No Justice, No Peace,” “Listen,” and “Black Lives Matter.” A young girl sat on the ground, holding a sign that simply read, “I am somebody.”
Some people wore COVID masks and t-shirts with three words printed on them, “I can’t breathe.” Those words incited demonstrations, rallies, and riots across America conjuring up graphic images of the video of George Floyd’s death. Floyd, a black man from Minneapolis, died on May 25 after being held down by police with an officers’ knee on his neck.
During Friday’s demonstration in Clarkesville, Shady Grove Baptist Church Youth Pastor Portia Burns seized on that image as she led demonstrators in a sobering symbolic demonstration of Floyd’s final moments. She asked people to lie face down with their hands behind their backs. Some took a knee. Silently, they held their positions for 8 minutes and 46 seconds – the time given in a criminal complaint that the officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck.
The chatter and chants that resonated earlier on the Square quieted as people participated in the silent protest. It set the stage for what came after.
Turning out. Speaking up.
“It’s a big deal that you’re here today,” said Nevaja Brown, one of the many speakers who turned out in Clarkesville. Brown, who is black, added, “even if we’re not seeing what’s going on around the nation happen here at home, we needed to be here tonight and reassure each other that when we go out of this county and it does happen to us, we have people here at home that we can call.”
The 2019 Habersham Central High School Valedictorian delivered an inspired speech about how people need to listen. “I pray that we’re opening our ears before we’re opening our mouths,” Brown said. “And that we’re opening our hearts before we’re opening our judgments.” Looking out over the high school and college-aged people in the crowd, she proclaimed, “We are the change that we need.”
Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell addressed the need for change within law enforcement.
“The incident with George Floyd is more than a tragedy,” he said as he outlined steps his department takes to prevent such tragedies. “We give them the tools to do their job, but, we also monitor them in doing their job.”
Sheriff Terrell spoke of his love for the community he serves and pointed out a diverse group of friends in the crowd. People applauded as he recalled words a wise man once told him. “You can’t drive the bus from the back seat,” and “silence is just as deadly as the action itself.” He concluded, saying, “If we will do unto others as we will have them do unto us, we will have peace.”
Moving forward
Peace is what many now long for, especially those who have experienced racism here at home in Habersham County. One young black woman spoke of her fear of being pulled over in a traffic stop, afraid of what might happen to her because of the color of her skin. A Hispanic brother and sister spoke of how they’ve been tailed in businesses while browsing and threatened with deportation by bullies at school.
Habersham County Commissioner Natalie Crawford, who is white, spoke emotionally about how she and a black friend were mocked and insulted in school just because they were friends.
For some, such stories were a revelation, for others, they were sad reflections of their own reality.
“It’s not a Habersham problem, it’s a world problem,” said Bishop Ernest Burns of Shady Grove Baptist Church, “It’s racism against all of us, and the world is looking at America.”
Speaking to the global outrage over Floyd’s death and the protests sparked by it, Bishop Burns said, “This is not just here in Habersham, it’s happening in Germany, it’s happening in France. It’s bleeding all over the world and the world is looking for America – the people that say that they’re God’s people [to lead]. If God’s people can’t do it, then who can do it?”
He challenged the faith community to stand up against racial injustice.
“For if anybody says you love the Lord, you ought to be standing right now saying ‘It will not happen again. No other life will be given for this cause.’ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Pastors in the pulpit, you can’t hide. If you’re in authority anywhere you’ve got to stand up against it [racism].”
People came to Friday’s protest and rally in Clarkesville to share their experiences amid the backdrop of a raised collective consciousness. What they do moving forward, individually and collectively, ultimately will determine how far their voices will reach.
