On Friday, thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. for the March On Washington, which comes on the heels of yet another act of police violence against a Black person.
Earlier this week, Jacob Blake was shot multiple times by a Kenosha, Wisconsin police officer. Blake, who was attempting to break up a fight, is currently hospitalized and is reportedly paralyzed from the waist down.
On the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s infamous March On Washington speech, Blake’s sister, Letetra Widman, had a poignant message.
“We will not be a footstool to oppression, “Widman said. “Black America, I hold you accountable. You must not stand. You must fight, but not with violence and chaos,” she continued.
For the last several months, protests and riots have occurred across the world in response to police violence and systemic racism.
Other speakers included family members of Black people who have died at the hands of police. “My brother cannot be a voice today. We have to be the voice. We have to be the change,” George Floyd’s sister, Bridget Floyd, said Friday.