Listener Submitted: My Experience at the Protest

I decided to attend the protest that happened Saturday in Downtown Rochester. I arrived at approximately 1:45 pm. My brother, my 10 & 11 year old and myself attended so we could be a part of history’s movement. I wanted to explain to the kids how to protest peacefully, and why it’s necessary.

We decided to stay in our SUV and follow the crowd that was marching. We followed SLOWLY behind the crowd. It was a quiet, respectful, and peaceful march. I was actually shocked at how quiet everybody was as the protesters held up signs, marching letting their feelings be known. People were waving and smiling at each other. It was obvious from the vibe that we all shared the same feelings and wanted to share this moment to stand up for change.

I honked the horn a few times because I wanted to show my support, after all -I did not have a sign. My daughter asked could she put her fist in the air, I told her yes. She stuck her head out the sunroof and said it wasn’t right what they did to George Floyd, an innocent man. She frowned and was serious about her feelings too.

When I started looking closely at the people in the crowd, I was surprised to see so many supporters of every race that had signs that said “Black lives matter.” A lot of older white women were at this protest and were chanting “Black lives matter”. White and Black men walking together. My heart melted. One even had a T-shirt that said “let’s do better white people.”

It softened my heart because they too felt the pain we are experiencing in George Floyd’s death. At that moment, we were all the same. This wasn’t a Black or White march, this was a march for immediate change. I felt the energy of frustration amongst the protesters as I was riding along side my fellow citizens.

One girl finally took the microphone and started to encourage the people, saying that we are there for change and we’re all standing together. My brother was recording the event on Facebook Live and quickly we had a lot of viewers watching our page because people wanted to show their support.

As we were getting ready to leave after about an hour and a half, we started to notice that the vibe was changing to a more aggressive tone saying with some attendees even beginning to chant, “fuck the police.” That’s when I decided to leave because I wanted to make sure my children were safe.

written by F. Fracassi