(Seguin) — A Black Lives Matter protest was held on Wednesday in downtown Seguin. Dozens turned out to protest the death of George Floyd and other African Americans, who have died in violent confrontations with police. The crowd chanted, marched, and peacefully assembled in Central Park — all in an effort to have their voices heard. They chanted things like, “no justice, no peace,” “hands up don’t shoot,” and “say his name, George Floyd!”
Organizers Isaiah Yesuf and Darrian Wilson says they felt it was important for an event like this to be held in Seguin. Yesuf says the event was all about standing up for what’s right and standing up for Black people everywhere.
“What I was hoping to accomplish here today is to fight for human rights. Yes, all souls matter but all souls can’t matter, unless black lives matter and I just feel like us, the community, we bring the people together and tell our truth and just preach that this system is corrupt, the government is corrupt and that we need a change. 2020 is that year of change and we need change,” said Yesuf.
The Black Lives Matter protest came two days after a prayer event in Central Park that prayed for George Floyd and other victims of racial violence. That event, dubbed an All Souls Matter prayer; however, also prayed for police officers and fire fighters in the community. The images of the first responders rolling up to the prayer service on Monday, upset many of those in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Wilson says after seeing that All Souls event, he knew that Black Lives Matter had to host something in Seguin, so that the message wouldn’t be diluted. He says this is a problem that is impacting Black people, and that’s not where the focus needs to be.
“The parade that we’ve seen the other day, it was just kind of like a slap in the face to the community of what we’ve got going on around the world. This is the only time in our whole history of ever living that every 50 state has come together and protested about all black lives matter and yes, all lives do matter because we are all God’s children at the end of the day. We are all brothers and sisters, but the black people are the ones being oppressed right now. What happened to George Floyd was uncalled for — Sandra Bland, Emmett Till — it goes way back and we’ve been on this oppression for over 400-500 years and now, it’s really getting bad to where everyone is standing up and this is what we wanted to see and when we saw that parade praying for the cops, it’s not the cops because there are some cops that I know are good people but at the end of the day, it’s them cops who are treating us bad,” said Wilson.
The pair was also critical of those who they say are not listening to what’s actually being said by the Black Lives Matter movement. They again stated that, of course, all lives matter, but it’s only black people who are being killed by the police or in some cases by white vigilantes, like the recent murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.
Wilson says white Americans often says things like, “why don’t you just comply,” but he says there is overwhelming evidence that compliance doesn’t matter. He says George Floyd appeared to comply with police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but he still ended up dead. Wilson says there are many other cases where compliance simply wasn’t the issue, but yet another black person still died while in custody, or died while having some interaction with police. Wilson says that’s why white Americans need to see the role that they play in this, and they need everyone to understand that things must change.
“No matter what they say for us to do and we comply, they want peace but we are not getting any peace. We want justice but we are not getting justice. We are getting blood. We are getting bloodshed and it’s just crazy, man,” said Wilson.
Yesuf also addressed those who complain about the rioting that has taken place during some protests in other parts of the state and country. Most of the protests have been peaceful, like the one Wednesday night here in Seguin. Yesuf says no one is calling for rioting or looting, but he says people who focus only on property damage are losing sight of the real issue. He says those buildings can be replaced, but George Floyd, and black victims like him, will never get a chance to come home again. He encouraged people who are saying those things to stop doing that, and to instead try opening their hearts and minds to the challenge that’s really facing America at this time.
“Those people are corrupt in the mind and lost in the mind man and if you can’t see love, then I don’t know what to tell you,” said Yesuf.
The crowd started small in Central Park, but continued to grow through the evening, eventually leaving the park and heading for the Sebastopol House historic site on West Court Street. They marched to the site chanting “hands up, don’t shoot!” They say the Sebastopol is believed to have once had slaves on that property.
The event eventually made its way back to Central Park for a rally, prayer, and the taking of a knee. This was the first Black Lives Matter protest in Seguin, but Yesuf and Wilson says it won’t be their last. They say they will continue to host events like this in their hometown to help bring about the change necessary to keep black people safe.
Seguin Police officers met with Yesuf and Wilson prior to the start of the march and also shared water with the marchers. Police Chief Terry Nichols says they wanted to cooperate in every way they could. He says they were there to make sure that the protesters were able to peacefully assemble.