About 500 gather for protest organized by 2 PPS principals
The recent deaths of three black Americans — Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd — prompted two Pittsburgh Public Schools principals to organize a Monday morning march that drew about 500 people, including teachers, administrators and city residents.
As the peaceful event began, MiChele Holly, principal of Sterrett School, said the march was a step toward ending injustice. “There just comes a point where you can no longer sit back and wait for someone else to take action,” she said.
Starting at 8:46 a.m., demonstrators walked 2 miles, from Pittsburgh Sterrett in Point Breeze to Pittsburgh Colfax in Squirrel Hill. Ms. Holly and Tamara Sanders Woods, principal of Colfax, organized the march.
The start time reflected the number of minutes and seconds that Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, pressed his knee on the neck of George Floyd, a black man who was handcuffed and face down in the street. Floyd died in police custody on May 25. All four officers involved in his arrest were fired and face felony criminal charges in connection with his death.
Among the marchers was Sylvia Wilson, who represents District 1 schools, including Sterrett, as a representative on the Pittsburgh Board of Education.
Ms. Wilson, a retired elementary teacher, said she wanted to show public school students that “their lives are important.”
George Floyd’s death, she added, has prompted protests all over the world.
“More white people are finally waking up to see that that was a senseless death right in their faces that they couldn’t ignore,” Ms. Wilson said.
“This is a quiet protest,” said Carla Robinson, a registered behavior technician at U-Prep in the Hill District. Then, she and the crowd began chanting, “Black lives matter” and “Teach black history.”
Mari Webel and her son, Asher, waved to the marchers
Asher, waved to the marchers and his kindergarten teacher as they walked along Beechwood Boulevard. Mrs. Webel held a sign that read, “Gender Justice, Racial Justice, Economic Justice.”
After demonstrators arrived at Colfax, Ms. Sanders Woods stood at the school’s entrance, telling the crowd, “We should not have to see a man murdered on film to be outraged. Every week we turn around, and there’s another murder and no accountability.”
After reminding the protesters to vote and stand up to racism, she added, “Do your part. That is all that we are asking.”
The march concluded with 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence to memorialize Floyd. Some protesters held burning candles to symbolize their hope to end racism; others bowed their heads.
Kenneth L. Houston, president of the Pennsylvania NAACP, told demonstrators that blacks, since arriving in the U.S. in August 1419, have “contributed to this nation,” including by fighting and bleeding for freedom. He urged them to be change agents. Mr. Houston praised Ms. Holly and Ms. Sanders Woods for their activism.
This year, two other deaths of black Americans have prompted protests and drawn intense media coverage. Ahmaud Arbery, 25, an unarmed man, was shot to death on Feb. 23 while jogging in a suburban neighborhood near Brunswick, Ga. Charges against two men accused of the killing were not filed until 74 days later.
Breonna Taylor, a 26year-old emergency medical technician, was shot eight times by Louisville police during a March 13 raid on her Kentucky apartment. Police used a “no-knock warrant” and a battering ram to break down her apartment door after midnight. She would have turned 27 last Friday.