Tag: Protest

I’m just walkin’ here.

It was deafening. It was exhilarating. It was pure. It was a necessary primal scream against the brutality visited upon people of color over centuries in the United States of America.

Feet on the ground for #BlackLivesMatter and #OneFargo

I could live a thousand white lives like mine and never understand what Black people have endured in this country.

Even so, I can do my part to ensure the wrongs don’t continue to repeat and repeat and repeat, over and over and over again, keeping Black and other people of color down in our society.

What can I do?

I can walk, for one.

So, yeah. I’m just walkin’ here.

IV Words section break graphic

Yesterday, I marched with my wife and our two daughters in the Black Lives Matter – Fargo/Moorhead and OneFargo March for Justice. It was an amazing, energizing experience.

Continue reading “I’m just walkin’ here.”

#BLM-FM, OneFargo March for Justice – June 20, 2020

Two Days, Two Peaceful Protests

For the second straight day, organizers from Black Lives Matter-Fargo/Moorhead and OneFargo led a peaceful march for justice through Fargo, N.D.

Read about yesterday’s march.

Today was different. There was joy along with the anguish and anger of other marches from the past two weeks. It was more than that, too. I felt connected to everyone else marching today like I’ve never felt at previous marches. As one woman’s simple sign said: “Beauty in Unity.”

Read more about today’s march here.

Here are a video and some photos:

Continue reading “#BLM-FM, OneFargo March for Justice – June 20, 2020”

JuneTeenth March for Justice 2020

No “imminent danger” or emergency declaration necessary.

“We want reform. We want trust. We want transparency. We want truth.”

There were no guns. There were no thugs. There was no violence.

Two days after Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney declared a state of emergency in advance of the JuneTeenth March for Justice organized by Black Lives Matter – Fargo/Moorhead (BLM-FM) because of what he called “imminent danger” for the community, there was only peaceful protest and a march from Island Park to Fargo (N.D.) City Hall and back.

Juneteenth Graphic

Above all, there was solidarity among the 300-350 people who, in the words of one event organizer, “showed up, showed out” to commemorate Juneteenth, protest police brutality and talk about justice for black people and other people of color in Fargo.

Continue reading “JuneTeenth March for Justice 2020”

Juneteenth 2020 March – Fargo, N.D.

#BlackLivesMatter-FM  leads march marking anniversary

300-350 people turn out for protest

Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney informs crowd of Juneteenth holiday proclamation

#BlackLivesMatter demands good-faith cooperation from Fargo establishment

Blinds in city hall windows closed in advance of peaceful protest

Continue reading for video and images…

Continue reading “Juneteenth 2020 March – Fargo, N.D.”

#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd, Fargo-Moorhead

Protest sign: “The system in the United States isn’t broken; it was built this way.” We all need to do more to address racism and stop the killing of our brothers and sisters.

#BlackLivesMatter

IV Words is horrified at what happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis – yet another death by cop for a black man in this country.

As a white man, my perspective is obviously limited, but what happens to people of color in the United States every day, and it seems especially to men of color, is shameful, soul-crushing, vile. I cannot imagine the daily feelings, from ever-present unease to terror.

For what it’s worth, I stand with all people of color. And today I stand especially with you for George Floyd.

#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #BLM #BlackLivesMatter

Continue reading “#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd, Fargo-Moorhead”

Coverage of Fargo #ClimateCrisis Strike

Happy that KVRR covered the Fargo #ClimateStrike yesterday. Glad to be able to speak out on the value of peaceful protest and how crucial it is that government leaders doing something – lots of things – to address the #ClimateCrisis NOW. #StrikeWithUs #ThereIsNoPLANetB

People from all walks of life, from as young as age 5 to grandparents in their 80s, protested in Fargo yesterday (9/20/19) about government inaction on the #ClimateCrisis. Continue reading “Coverage of Fargo #ClimateCrisis Strike”