The two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder is May 25. A small group has been standing on U.S. 1, at the Murray Nelson Government Center, every Friday since then. We hold signs to remind people that George Floyd is only one of many black people killed by police each year, and their lives matter.
In the past two years we have heard many supportive honks from passersby, but often our ears ring from the air horns blasted from over-sized pick-up trucks. We have also choked from the black exhaust some pick-up trucks spew, modified to Roll Coal, the drivers with both hands off their steering wheels in order to flip us twin birds.
A pack of young boys on bicycles frequently hold up fists as they speed past us on Friday, and one has shouted, “I support this!” An old man who proudly wears his Vietnam Veteran hat passes us on the bike path every few weeks. He slowly approaches us on his scooter shaking his head scoldingly. He says we don’t know what black people are really like and he calls them a word I can’t repeat. He promised to pray for us.
A retired policeman stopped to tell us his blood boils every time he sees us. He lost a friend and fellow officer in 1973, murdered by a black man with a gun. One woman stopped to tell us that black people don’t respect BLM, and we are just perpetuating racism by standing out there. Four German exchange students joined us recently. We discussed Germany’s history with racism, and our country’s current political divide. They asked if they could take one of our BLM signs home with them.
We often discuss what we hope to accomplish by showing up every Friday. If nothing else, our Friday BLM protests have generated curiosity and sparked conversations.
Join us Friday, May 27, in remembrance of George Floyd.
Susan Anderson
Key Largo
