Organizers mark 200 days of protesting with a cookout

For more than 200 days, protesters in Milwaukee have marched for racial justice and an end to systemic racism, but on Saturday marchers took a break from demonstrating and instead broke bread with each other.

“We’re not celebrating that we’ve come so far,” Mariah Smith said. “We’re just celebrating that we’re still here ... we’re celebrating that it’s at a point where they’re now starting to hear us.”

Smith, along with more than 50 members of the group called the Peoples Revolution, grilled burgers, brats and hot dogs at Cathedral Square and listened to music.

Percy Hayes, an organizer with the Peoples Revolution, called the event “a kick-back day” for marchers and organizers to relax.

“I think it’s advantageous to take a mental day and enjoy each other,” Hayes said.

Brandon Wilborn, an organizer, said the event did not mark an end to their efforts.

“A lot of work still needs to be done,” Wilborn said. “It’s just a small victory that people want to celebrate.”

Candy Cane Lane march

Few groups, if any, have been as active in participating in demonstrations as the Peoples Revolution.

On Friday night, several dozen members of the group took their message to Candy Cane Lane in West Allis while families were out looking at the lights and decorations.

“We didn’t shut anything down, we put money in the buckets; we were donating as well,” Smith said. “There was no arguments ... it was such positivity. Sometimes we get upset and meet aggression with aggression but there was none of that last night.”

Since 1984, Candy Cane Lane has raised money for the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer. So far this year, organizers have raised more than $121,000. The holiday displays are located on Manitoba Street, just north of Oklahoma Avenue.

West Allis Deputy Police Chief Chris Marks said officers monitored the area but no arrests or citations were issued. He added there was no reports of violent activity.

Hayes said the group wasn’t protesting Candy Cane Lane or the MACC Fund, “it was about reaching the audience that Candy Cane Lane has.”

“I saw negative reaction online and

we didn’t see any of that energy out there,” Hayes said. “There were some people that were disappointed that we were there. They felt that we were protesting Candy Cane Lane or the fundraiser, we weren’t. We were trying to have our voices heard in a place where there would be a lot of people.”

Mary Lockwood, an organizer with Indivisible Tosa who has marched with the Peoples Revolution, went to Candy Cane Lane with her kids.

She learned about the march just before leaving her house and saw the group when they got there.

“It was a delight to see them and it spurred good conversation in my car,” Lockwood said. “I was there with my kids, not expecting to march, but I did get out and say ‘Hi.’”

Lockwood said the march did not disrupt her family’s experience of seeing the decorations.

“I would push back on anyone saying there was disruption to a beloved tradition,” Lockwood said, adding marchers donated to the MACC Fund. “I know that traffic was not slowed any more than it already was to get through.”

PHOTOS BY MIKE DE SISTI /MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL Peoples Revolution organizer Mariah Smith, left, serves a burger to Payton, who only wanted to use his first name, as part of the Peoples Revolution marking its 200-plus day of action at Cathedral Square Park along East Wells Street in Milwaukee on Saturday.

Faith Hunt, 4, who was with her mother, Erica Hunt, not pictured, of Milwaukee holds a sign she made during the Peoples Revolution event at Cathedral Square Park in Milwaukee on Saturday.