Activist group protests every Friday at Railroad park
PHOTO BY CAMERON MCPHAIL/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Judy Hand-Truitt and Jerry Woodson hold witness at Railroad Park on March 1, during weekly walk.
Whitman Miller
CityLifestyle Reporter
[email protected]
Every Friday morning, an activist group carrying signs saying as “Black Lives Matter” and “White Silence Means Consent” gathers at Railroad Park. White Birminghamians for Black Lives Matter have been arranging protests since September, 2016.
“We felt we needed to find a way to be visible,” said Judy Hand-Truitt, a member of White Birminghamians for Black Lives Matter. “
We wanted to find an easy but meaningful way for white people to become involved.” They call the protest “holding witness.” “I do this to bring recognition to police violence,” said Jerry Woodson, a member of White Birminghamians for Black Lives Matter.
They began holding witness in September of 2016. This was in response first to the shooting of Terrence Crutcher, a 40-year old African-American man, by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and then to the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year old African-American man, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The latter of which was followed by two nights of large-scale protests in that city.
“The witness is an invitation and opportunity especially, but not exclusively, for white Birminghamians to bear witness to the truth that Black Lives Matter,” according to the event description on their Facebook page.
The group was listed as a community partner of the Jefferson County Memorial Project. The project was initiated after the Equal Justice Initiative built the memorial to lynching victims in Montgomery. After it was noticed that thirty of the victims listed were from Jefferson County, various community leaders came together to uncover and tell each of their stories. The official consolidated report, the comprehensive result of this project, was released on February 27. This work was aided and supported by community partners like White Birminghamians for Black Lives. They do this every Friday when the weather permits. They meet around 11 a.m. near the small skateboard bowls at Railroad Park.
The gathering is arranged on their Facebook page.
