A New Lodi has a new vision for the city
One by one, protesters called out a name attached to a red rose, walked forward, and put it on the ground in front of the Lodi Police Department. The names read were those killed by police in the United States, and once the entrance was covered with dozens of red roses, a moment of remembrance was observed.
Saturday’s observance was part of the Silent March and Vigil to Eradicate Hate, organized by A New Lodi, along with founding member Pastor Nelson Rabell at St. Paul Lutheran Church, and attended by dozens of local faith leaders, organizations and residents promoting justice and equality.
Prior to the march, several speakers addressed the gathered crowd, including Jarred Ditmore with A New Lodi. Ditmore said the organization’s goal is to promote and pursue justice, equality, economic and educational equity and inclusivity for every marginalized group, while seeking to amplify those voices.
He said A New Lodi began to take shape amidst the national outrage surrounding the death of George Floyd at the hands of a law enforcement officer in Minneapolis. The group will take a multi-pronged approach in seeking its mission, Ditmore said, including peaceful protests, education, civic engagement, leadership accountability and community building.
Rabell described the organization’s committee as a group of individuals who initially met at different marches in Lodi, and gravitated towards each other because they shared ideas of a more inclusive Lodi.
“We want to make a point to Lodi that things need to change for the better,” Rabell said.
He said the group will advocate for inclusivity of minorities in the power structure of the city — whether it’s at the school district, the city council, businesses or churches.
Pastor Curtis Smith, the director of San Joaquin County Faith in the Valley, said when he was asked to speak at the June Black Lives Matter protest in Lodi, which drew hundreds of protesters, he had not expected such a large turnout.
“I never thought I’d see the day when Lodi would have hundreds of people gather to proclaim Black Lives Matter,” Smith said.
However, the recent actions of counterprotesters at the Sept. 5 in protest made him think he was in Charlottesville, Va., he said, adding that white privilege or white supremacy will no longer be tolerated. He said Saturday’s march was in response to the counter-protesters, including members of the Proud Boys, that showed up that day.
“Maybe they have failed to look around, or maybe they just refuse to accept that the Black members, the Latino, the Latinx, the Muslims, the Asians, the Sikhs, the indigenous and our LBTGQ brothers and sisters also belong here,” he said, adding that A New Lodi seeks to change the culture of Lodi to a place where they can build, bridge and belong.
After the speeches on Saturday, the group marched down Hutchins Street and turned onto West Elm Street where they held the Moment of Remembrance, before heading to the corner of Church and Pine streets where they held a “denounce and declare” rally.
One person read one word of what they denounce in Lodi, other communities and the nation, and the group echoed the word. They denounced injustice, apathy, misogyny, complicity, silence, militarized policing, among other things, and then declared their vision for a new Lodi, which included that all humans are created equal, anti-racism, police accountability, access to health care for all, and an equitable education system.
Then the march continued down Church back towards St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Ben McBride, director of PICO California, the state’s largest faith-based community organizing network, addressed the crowd as they cooled off with a water break. He urged those in attendance to go out and make their voices heard at the polls.
“We know we just got finished protesting, but we know the fight does not end with a protest. The fight is just beginning,” McBride said.