During a weekend heatwave, a group of people found it in themselves to take to the Capitol steps once again on Sunday to make their voices heard in support of Black Lives Matter.
The protests and rallies that were sparked by the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody on May 25.
Now, almost three months later, some cities have had ongoing protests the whole time, but Harrisburg has had a variety of events and forums for conversations. But according to the organizers of Sunday’s event, those aren’t enough.
“We don’t want to slow the momentum, we going to keep showing up, keep marching, keep speaking about injustice until change happens,” community leader Kevin Maxson said Sunday.
Maxson said since these rallies and protests began, he has participated in some of the conversations with local law enforcement and officials but said so far no real change has come.
LaRoc Hudson, with Voices for the Voiceless, said he too has participated in conversations with local politicians but said they “stall out.” He said the response is always that change takes a while and they have to wait.
“We don’t have a while. We’ve been waiting,” Hudson said, adding that while some people may say they’ve been waiting since the civil rights movement in the 60s, Black people have been enslaved for much longer.
When speaking to the crowd of about 50 supporters during the rally, Hudson said his fight isn’t about him, or pictures, or politics. It’s about life.
“It’s about kids for me. It’s about living free for me,” Hudson said.
While the group was smaller than has been seen at some of the earlier protests, which drew hundreds of people to Harrisburg from around the region, Maxson and Hudson say they are inspired when they see the group they still have coming.
“That just proves how many people are passionate about this cause, and how many people really desire definitive changes in this system,” Maxson said.
Hudson said he feels that the deepest changes won’t come from the house floor, but rather from shifts in attitudes brought on by people like those at the rally spreading the messages through their own families and networks.
“When I see groups like this, it gives me hope because I know that somebody here is family or an arm’s length away from somebody of influence,” Hudson said.
And while both men know that it will take time to reach the point in which laws and policies are changed, both at the local and national levels, they both see things that could be happening on the ground, day to day, to show the willingness to change.
“I would like to see relationships between law enforcement and citizens healed,” Maxson said. “I would like to see law enforcement take the initiative to communicate and talk with black males and females in the community because often we’re targeted.”
For Hudson, he said he wants to see less sensitivity over the phrases used by the Black Live Matter movement.
“We all know things like ‘defund the police’ doesn’t necessarily mean defund the police,” Hudson said. “It means re-allocation. It means re-training. It means re-educating. But I wouldn’t necessarily call that a dead-in-the-water defund.”
He said similarly, people who don’t understand “Black Lives Matter” begin to tear it down and create a division that picks at smaller things, which he calls “really ridiculous.”
He said he would live to see people in positions power as well as people who may not necessarily agree to come to rallies and community events not just when photo opportunities are expected but at any time.
“They’re welcome at any time to join us and just have the spirit of community. Everything is not about politics, even though politics runs over into our everyday lives,” Hudson said. “I think coming down and rubbing elbows with the common man every once in a while, more so than for a photo op or for a speech, would change help people’s perspectives on what they’re signing into law or things they’re not taking into account.”
Hudson said when people do grasp the concepts, past the initial alarm or hurt these messages may bring, everyone can move on.
“Everybody’s going to have to go through that hurt piece, and I personally would hope that they come to it sooner rather than later because the sooner it happens the sooner we can get over it. Like they want,” Hudson said. “And the sooner we can move on.”
In the meantime, more rallies and events both at the Capitol and around the Harrisburg region will continue to be held, with the goal of getting everyone to a better understanding.
“If people don’t stand up and unify for this cause and change this dynamic, we’re going to continuously be caught in this cycle of oppression and racism,” Maxson said.