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Rally for Racial Justice in Ottawa Hills
Special to the Truth
On Sunday, June 7, several
hundred Ottawa Hills residents and neighbors joined Rally
for Racial Justice in support of #BlackLivesMatter. The
event was organized by Ottawa Hills neighborhood group, This
Is OH, a volunteer committee of residents that works to
bring awareness and constructive action to efforts in
support of diversity and inclusion in the community.
This Is OH was joined by
speakers including Jeremy Holloway and high school student
Jon Dolsey, who spoke of their experience as black residents
of Ottawa Hills. The keynote speaker was Ruth Leonard, local
educator and activist representing the Community Solidarity
Response Network.
Master of ceremony and
This Is OH member, Jihan Saie, started the rally with an
acknowledgement and moment of silence to recognize the fact
that Ottawa Hills rests on former lands belong to indigenous
people. She explained that the taking of indigenous lands
was often brutal and violent and is tied historically to
this nation’s enslavement of African people. That his is the
foundation of the nation’s systemic racism and police
brutality of black Americans.
The rally ended with an
eight minute, 46 second period of silence on attendees knees
in commemoration of the murder of George Floyd by a
Minneapolis police officer.
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