Last Monday, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., more than 1,000 Seattleites marched from Garfield High School to Downtown Seattle chanting phrases such as “Who’s lives matter? Black lives matter?” and “No justice, No peace, No racist police!” The march paused in front of the downtown municipal building and the juvenile jail where speakers made the street their stage. Key topics were reforming police brutality and addressing the inherent racism present in the courts and the prison system at large. Rejecting the proposed building of a new “Mega-Jail for children” was one of the more Seattle-specific concerns voiced throughout the march. In one of the final speeches, Gerald Hankerson, the president of the NAACP Northwest put forth a call to action to attendees,
“I’m calling on all of you today, to as you walk away thinking about why you celebrate MLK 2015, think about this, what has happened differently since 2014 when we were down here? What has happened differently since 2013 when we were down here? The question before you is, what is going to happen in 2016 if we don’t do something different?”
“We’re putting our police officers on notice right now, if you break the law, we’re going to hold you accountable just like you’d hold one of us accountable, and if the law can’t protect us, it damn sure can’t protect you!”
Viola Jean Photography 