Dallas faithful looked to the deaths of Black people past and present on Saturday to shout “Never again!,” while others eyed the future in calling for turning the current tide of emotions and energy toward institutional change and higher voter turnout.
A second day of Juneteenth rallies began with a march — or as pastor Ray Jordan put it, “a pilgrimage” — organized by the multi-faith group Faith in Texas, largely silent save for the occasional hymns that Jordan himself led. … “We march and our feet become the beat of drum crying out to God, ‘Never again,’” said Jordan.
… Stop No. 1: the intersection of Main and Akard streets, where, in 1910, an angry mob dragged Allen Brooks by a rope tied around his neck and hanged him before a massive crowd.
The march continued through Dealey Plaza and past Martyrs Park — where, in 1860, three black men were hanged from trees over the Trinity River as a warning to slaves and abolitionists — and ended on the steps of the Frank Crowley Courts Building, where speakers cited the 2018 death of Diamond Ross in police custody as an example of ongoing, deadly inequity in the city.
… Around a dozen different congregations — along with people who independently joined the procession — participated in the protest. “It’s really important to show solidarity,” said pastor Stacey Brown of Elevate Ministry. “We want to show that despite creed or color or denomination or religion, that we’re all coming together in the name of justice.”
Excerpted from Dallas Morning News. Read the full article here.
