38-year-old Shaheer Johnson addresses the crowd at a rally in Lansdale on June 20.
For the second time in two days, demonstrators took to West Main Street in Lansdale Borough on Saturday afternoon to call for an end to racial injustice and to spark change for the future.
Organized by North Penn Class of 2020 grad Melanie Hartnett, Saturday’s event drew hundreds of demonstrators to the downtown area of the borough, and it was the fourth such event to be held in Lansdale since the death of 46-year-old George Floyd on Memorial Day at the hands of officers from the Minneapolis Police Department.
“I have always been very passionate about equality,” said Hartnett. “I grew up in a family that taught me to use my white privilege to amplify voices that have been silenced along the way. I was taught to use my privilege to bring light to injustice and to use it as a platform to pave the way for a better future. I believe we need so much change to occur, and that cannot happen until we act so here I am.”
As with the other area protests, the demonstration remained peaceful—and emotionally charged—throughout the duration of the event, as chants of “black lives matter” and stories of racism and injustice echoed off the nearby buildings.
Hartnett, who has attended all of the protests in Lansdale and assisted with the planning of the June 7 rally at Memorial Park, said there are more rallies and demonstrations on the horizon.
“We will absolutely continue, and there will be much more to come,” Hartnett said. “In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., ‘there comes a time when silence is betrayal,’ and we will not remain silent. We will speak up on this issue, we will act and we will fight for change until we have reached the goals and obtained the brighter future that we hope for; where the color of someone’s skin is not seen as probable cause, and their melanin is not seen as a threat. We will not be silent.”
For more video from Saturday’s demonstration, see below.
See also:
Hundreds Attend Juneteenth Solidarity March In Lansdale Early Friday Evening
Demonstrations Against Racial Injustice Held In Lansdale, North Wales And Abington-Lansdale Hospital
Peaceful Rally Draws More Than 1,000 Demonstrators to Souderton
Hundreds Attend Peaceful Rally In Support Of George Floyd In Lansdale, Police Show Their Support
Lansdale Police Chief: ‘It’s Time To End Idle Talk And Move Towards Solutions’
