San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Call goes out to fight injustice
Three rallies held in downtown vicinity push for change
When Shwanda Primm heard about the Women Against Injustice march, she knew she had to attend the event Saturday evening. She felt it was her responsibility to represent women from all walks of life.
She wasn’t alone. Her husband Marcus, 49, and daughter Haven, 19, accompanied her to the rally at the Carver Cultural Community Center sponsored by the Young Ambitious Activists.
The crowd of more than 100 people marched from the center through an East Side neighborhood chanting calls for change as they made their way to Pittman Sullivan Park. Once at the park, a group member led the crowd in a series of yoga exercises. It was a moment of peace and well-being. After the respite, Haven and her mother listened to speaker Neka Cleaver encourage the women at the park to find their purpose and bring it to the table.
Haven said she came to support the Black Lives Movement and the protection of black women. She said she wanted her voice to be heard.
“This group came together to say we have women who had lives that were impacted also,” said Shwanda Primm, 48. “That was a mom, a sister, an aunt, a friend. It was a chance for us to come and make an impact.”
The event was one of three rallies held Saturday in the vicinity of downtown San Antonio.
At noon, protesters gathered at Columbus Park to call for the removal of a statue of Christopher Columbus. A few hours later, Vincent Webb, son of former City Councilman Joe Webb, sponsored a Peaceful Rally, Protest & March at Lockwood Park
Lexi Qaiyyim, 24, spokesper
son for the Young Ambitious Activists, said what she hadn’t seen among the recent protests was a women-led march or any event about black women who died in police custody and the experiences of women of color.
“Malcom X said the most disrespected person in America is the black woman,” she said, “and that still rings true today and that’s from the 60s. It’s time for our voices to be heard.”
Volunteers took the attendees’ temperatures and offered hand sanitizer to protesters at the parking lot where African-American women and other women of color talked about how their voices aren’t being heard.
Amanda Moon, 29, said as a queer, biracial woman she had experienced sexism and racism early in life.
“Feminism is about equality,” she said.
Dajiyah Mcae, 22, said African-American women should be encouraged to have conversations about their feelings. She said when she fell into depression she didn’t have a support system. She said she spent many years fighting through that period.
“We’re not expecting a crutch,” she said, “we’re just asking for the same expectations as anyone else.”
Earlier at Lockwood Park, Webb started a rally not far from where he grew up on the East Side.
“We must have consistency of our marches and protests to get the word out,” he said. “We’re sick and tired of what’s going on across the nation. All across the world this is happening.”
Before the rally at the park, Brandon Johnson, 22, attended the protest at Columbus Park to call for the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue. He said he was one of more than 40 protesters to speak out for what he called atrocities committed against indigenous people.
“If we can take down the statue it will be the first step to taking down white supremacy across the country,” Johnson said. “We exercised our First Amendment rights to speak out about it.”
Metal railing separated the public from the statue that was vandalized with red paint earlier in the week.
There were reports of a tense encounter between the protesters and several armed men who arrived to protect the statue. The two groups reportedly shouted at each other but it didn’t lead to any altercations.
Other protesters who arrived from Columbus Park said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus asked the men to leave the area. After several minutes, the men complied.
At the last march of the day, Jose Mora Jr. leaned on his porch railing and watched the marchers as they walked along Hackberry Street chanting, “I can’t breathe.”
“I do stand for it,” he said, referencing the protests. “It’s time for people to wake up.”
Community activist Mario Salas, who attended all three rallies, said it’s past time for politicians to listen to their constituents.
“Whoever isn’t hearing them is making a grave mistake,” he said, with a nod to the black women at the rally. “We have elections coming up, and anybody not listening is probably going to be in trouble.”