Name: 'I’m not going to sit on the sidelines': Mostly white group marches in honor of Breonna Taylor
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'I’m not going to sit on the sidelines': Mostly white group marches in honor of Breonna Taylor

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Louisville Courier Journal LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For 136 days, protesters have taken to the streets of Louisville to march in the name of Breonna Taylor. The majority of regular marchers are Black, and the majority of marchers are regulars.But on Saturday, a large march — well over 500 people — gathered at Tyler Park. This time, the&nbsp;majority were white, and for many, it was their first time marching.“I’m not going to sit on the sidelines anymore,” said attorney Patrick Renn, of Prospect, who had not previously marched.Tish Moore, a former educator who occasionally protests at Senate Majority Leader&nbsp;Mitch McConnell’s house, added: “There’s poverty in our city, and it’s unbalanced. African Americans have a stacked deck.”The “March to Justice” was organized by attorney Marc Murphy, Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice&nbsp;and the Fairness Campaign. The large group&nbsp;gathered to hear speeches at noon and then trekked 3 miles to Jefferson Square Park, the downtown hub of protests&nbsp;that demonstrators call&nbsp;Injustice Square.&nbsp;U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, state Rep. Charles Booker, state Sen. Morgan McGarvey and Louisville Urban League President Sadiqa Reynolds all spoke at Tyler Park.For subscribers:Speakers discussed Taylor, the 26-year old unarmed Black woman who died at the hands of LMPD officers in March, and the importance of white people supporting the racial justice movement.“When those bullets went through Breonna, when they whipped through her body, and a life left her, they went through yours, too,” said Booker, a former candidate for U.S. Senate. “They whipped through the city, and as her breath left her, the breath from our city went out as well.”Reynolds, who recently had surgery on her Achilles tendon, needed help standing on a picnic table to address the crowd, but she gave an impassioned speech, saying she wasn’t tired, but rather angry.“Oh Louisville, where is your compassion?” she asked. “Oh Louisville, where is your justice?”She then helped lead a nearly two-hour march down Baxter Avenue, then Market Street, and finally downtown. The march blocked traffic throughout, but police did not intervene.Protesters cried out with typical chants — “No justice, no peace” and “No lives matter ‘til Black lives matter” — but also new ones: “Fire Daniel Cameron” and “We’re sick and tired, those cops should’ve been fired.”'They have a voice':Murphy, who is a contributing cartoonist for The Courier Journal,&nbsp;instructed the crowd that the day was separated into three sections: a call to action, the march, and then, a call to listen.At Jefferson Square Park, which Murphy called “sacred ground,” protesters took a knee and raised a fist as they surrounded the Breonna Taylor memorial in the center of the park. There, they listened to speakers including state Rep. Attica Scott, Louisville professor Ricky Jones&nbsp;and activist .After protesters marched the 3 miles, Jones told them: “This is a beginning, not an end.”Earlier in the day, Booker told the crowd about the pain he’s experienced this year — seeing protesters crying out in the streets, just as they have “for generations and no one heard us, or if you heard, you may have looked away, because maybe it didn’t hit you the same.”However,&nbsp;Booker&nbsp;saw hope in the large turnout. He saw an amalgamation of people, fighting together, he said,&nbsp;turning pain into progress.“But in the midst of this pain, I have hope like I have never experienced in my life,” he said to applause. “I have a hope that is so powerful I’m gonna stand on this picnic table and yell out in this park that change is here. It’s not coming here, it’s here. We’re here.”Protests in Louisville:Hayes Gardner can be reached at&nbsp;;Twitter: .&nbsp;Support strong local journalism by subscribing today:&nbsp;.

Louisville Courier Journal LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For 136 days, protesters have taken to the streets of Louisville to march in the name of Breonna Taylor. The majority of regular marchers are Black, and the majority of marchers are regulars.But on Saturday, a large march — well over 500 people — gathered at Tyler Park. This time, the&nbsp;majority were white, and for many, it was their first time marching.“I’m not going to sit on the sidelines anymore,” said attorney Patrick Renn, of Prospect, who had not previously marched.Tish Moore, a former educator who occasionally protests at Senate...

'I’m not going to sit on the sidelines': Mostly white group marches in honor of Breonna Taylor

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