250 people show up to march in city

BRIDGEPORT — They sang. They chanted. And they marched.

Some 250 strong, people of all races peacefully marched the mile and a half from Stratford Avenue to Broad Street.

There were Black people like Larissa Smith, of Bridgeport who is studying to be

a nurse and demands better education in the city’s schools adding “knowledge is the key.”

There was Nkosi Lee, of Hartford, using the march as a teaching lesson for his four sons, Elijah, 15, Emmanuel, 11, Azariah, 8, and Josiah, 7. At one point he explained how these times “are a pivotal moment in America” and how it has generated demonstrations worldwide. When asked by one of his sons he explained the meaning of the red, green and black colors of his people’s flag saying they stood for blood shed, the bountiful land and the people.

There were white people like Alison Ligi and her daughter, Riley, 15, of Prospect, who were marching for a third third time as they seek justice for all and the Rev. Joseph “Skip” Karcsinski, pastor of Blessed Sacrament church on Union Avenue, who believes this is a march for the people and an opportunity for them to make a statement.

And there were Hispanic people like State Reps. Chris Rosario and Antonio Felipe who vowed to work for change during next month’s special session at the Capitol.

But one prominent absence was the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Just last Sunday his expected presence filled the excited conversation of several young minorities at McLevy Green. Sharpton has marched and lectured in Bridgeport several times before so his presence was expected and anticipated.

However, this time Sharpton had an “11 a. m. commitment to be at the

National Action rally in New York,” the Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson, board chairman of the National Action Network, told Hearst Connecticut Media Group on Saturday

He said Sharpton had isolated himself as a result of the COVID- 19 guidelines and felt a need to be there.

But others like City Councilman Ernie Newton and the Rev. Mary McBride Lee, the Rev. Herron Gaston and community activists like Carolyn Nah, Lyle Hassan Jones and Wayne Winston said Sharpton decided to stay away because of “deceptive lies,” threats to his well- being and a divide in the community.

“People didn’t want him here for their own purposes and petty reasons,” Winston said.” Bridgeport took a big hit in the world’s eyes.”

Gaston, who with Lee, coordinated Saturday’s march, said he was “increasingly disappointed” that Sharpton, “a renown and prolific civil rights activist” was told “he is not welcome in Bridgeport by detractors who have their own agenda.”

“People try to derail his presence by spreading deceptive lies,” Gaston said. “These individuals are precisely the ones that are putting their foot on the necks of this movement.”

Some said there were rumors Sharpton might be physically attacked by those who participated in last week’s camp out at police headquarters.

“They tried to say we were going to do something to Al Sharpton. Whoever said that, they lied. We wanted to hear his wisdom like everyone else,” , said Anthony Marshall, a leader in one of those groups. “We wanted the national news to hear about what’s going on here.”

Rev. Lee was among those that laid the blame on State Sen. Marilyn Moore and the Rev. Carl McCluster, senior pastor of Shiloh Baptist church.

On Saturday, Moore denied she “even considered calling anyone” about keeping Sharpton away.

“No one called me or spoke with me. No one,” said Moore. “It’s irresponsible for people to spread untruths and lose sight of the real problem by deflecting their anger in this way. I stand by my original Facebook comment that those who are making the statements, who are either elected or managers in the administration, can do more. We all know the problems as does everyone else. It’s on the front pages everyday and its time to address them.”

Moore asked the leaders

“what will they do to address systemic and structural racism in Bridgeport” after the march. “I know what I am doing in the state legislature.”

McCluster said he was “greatly disappointed that Rev. Sharpton was not able to attend the rally.”

The pastor said he looks forward “to having the opportunity to greet him and welcome him back to Bridgeport when his schedule and health allow him to come and add his voice to the chorus of disenfranchised and oppressed Black, brown and other Connecticut residents who chosen to dismantle and rebuild the law enforcement, judicial and legislative systems that have been tools of our oppression for too long.”

Richardson, who is also pastor of the 4,000 member Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, N. Y., was introduced to the crowd outside the Margaret Morton Government Center on Broad Street by the Rev. Boise Kimber, pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church in New Haven and Hartford.

“I’m glad to be here today in the midst of what is one of the most historic moments in the history of this country — a combination of pandemics, the health pandemic and the justice pandemic, that is impacting and affecting us as a people,” Richardson began.

As he spoke Richardson’s words seemed to address the issues regarding Sharpton’s appearance.

“Sometimes in the process of the struggle there are miscues, in the process of the struggle there are sometimes misunderstandings ... we sometimes find ourselves on different poles from each other even though our intentions are the same,” he preached.

“So there must be room for us to make mistakes. There must be room for us to have disagreements. There must be room for us to arise out of whatever milieu that confuses the agenda and achieve that which is important to all of us.”

Richardson told the crowd that too often protests and demonstrations of the past 400 years ended with everything returning to the same thing.

“We’re tired of those protests. ... We’re tired of having to speak out for our rights. We’re tired of having to call for change,” he said. “When we rise into a crescendo ... and then after it dies down, we pull back doing the same things all over ... ”

He said the world is seeing that “America talks justice and inclusion on one side, and exercises exclusion and racism on the other side. America is a hypocrisy. America has lost its way.”

He said to correct the situation America must invest in its African Americans.

“Black people are damaged and we are in need of repair,” Richardson said.

Following speeches from Richardsons, legislatures and pastors at the City Hall annex on Broad Street, Gaston urged those attending to contact him via email and sign up for committees he and Rev. Lee are looking to put together on refoms in education, health care and policing. Gaston said they would conduct listening and learning tours, as well as virtual tours in the neighborhoods, and then compose working groups to address these issues.

“We want the one who cleans floors, the one who bakes , the one who works in an office,” Lee said.