Black Lives Matter march through Ridley scheduled for Aug. 1

A Black Lives Matter march has been scheduled to go through Ridley Township Saturday, Aug. 1.

Beginning at noon the first Saturday in August at Frederick L. Mann Memorial Park at Kedron and Academy avenues in Ridley, the march organized by Delco Resists is anticipating to walk through the township, although the route has not yet been released.

“We would like to give Ridley and the surrounding communities a platform to speak out safely about any injustices they’ve faced as we continue our quest for true justice and true equity,” organizers of the event said in fliers being distributed.

Taylor Shiflett is one of the organizers from Delco Resists.

“We chose Ridley because we had a lot of people form the community reach out to us and want us to do it in Ridley,” she said, adding that the group had already hosted marches in Glenolden and in Collingdale.

In addition, she said anecdotes of racial tension at the high school and among police interactions have appeared on social media.

She herself was at a recent protest outside the Chick-fil-A on MacDade Boulevard.

“We were just standing outside with Black Lives Matter signs,” she said when people drove past them flipping their middle finger and yelling, “Trump 2020.”

“We had nothing about Trump. We had anti-racism (messages). This is the community that we live in.”

Monday, organizers spent the day disseminating fliers among the Ridley business community as they plan to reach out to officials later this week.

The event will start at Kedron and Academy avenues and then walk a yet-to-be-determined 2 mile route, which is the same distance as their previous walks have been.

“We don’t tolerate racism in our community,” Shiflett said. “We stand up against racism. That’s the message we’re trying to spread ... and just love and unity.”

Based on her experience at

Chick-fil-A, she said she does have some concerns “from counterprotesters and people who look at us and think that we’re hateful. All we’re saying is that Black lives matter. History has shown us that Black people have not been treated equally.

“A lot of people don’t want to hear it from us and we want to know why,” she said, adding that they feel it’s important to get their message out into the community. “Those people who don’t want to hear it, whenever they’re ready to talk, we’re here.”