Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette to hold ‘peaceful protest walk’ in Jacksonville

UPDATE: Fournette has announced he, along with Lil Duval and Mayor Lenny Curry will be leading the peaceful protest walk Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., ET.

The walk will begin at the Jacksonville courthouse downtown.

Over the past week, many around the nation - and around the world -, have held protests in the name of slain Minnesota resident George Floyd at the hands of police officers, one in which has been charged with second degree murder and manslaughter.

Announced via social media Wednesday night, Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette has plans to host his very own peaceful protest walk in Jacksonville (Fla.) sometime next week. Fournette is calling everyone in Duval to come out and support.

Earlier on Wednesday, Jaguars owner Shad Khan issued a public op-ed in regards to the social injustice bestowed on people of color, something that he, as a man of color has also had to deal with at times.

In understanding the complexities of the situation, and realizing his fortune in dealing with injustice, Khan made an effort to give a longer, much more detailed and well-informed opinion on the matter - something that many owners, teams and players have struggled to do during this time.

One particular portion of Khan’s editorial rings true throughout many African American communities: “No families in this country should have to go to bed at night worrying about whether their children are going to encounter the wrong police officer in the wrong moment,” Khan wrote. “No families should have to worry about their child losing their life just because of the color of their skin. Yet, they do.”

Yet, they do. The issues that many in this country have had to suffer through have, frankly, gone on too long. The time for change has come during one of the more tragic events in recent history, and unfortunately, it has taken such a tragic event for any meaningful change to be considered, and it still has yet to, really.

The fact remains, change should have occurred years ago, there has been far too often an individual has fallen due to police brutality or the color of their skin, whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally. Changes take time, but time has passed, which is why many of these protests are on-going, and seemingly will not end until more change has occurred.

Many in Jacksonville have already conducted protests of their own. All of which have been generally peaceful, especially over the past several days. One in particular occurred Wednesday afternoon and into the evening in a San Marco neighborhood in Jacksonville. According to a report from the Associated Press’ Mark Long, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone, his wife and three children attended the peaceful protest.

Fournette is not the first NFL player to come out and attend a protest. New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan recently attended one in New Orleans earlier on Wednesday, the Houston Texans players were given time off to attend protests as well, and many other players around the NFL have come together in support of Black Lives Matter.

Their voices are meaningful.