Why are people demonstrating at 11:00 am this Wednesday, July 19, 2017, in front of the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court in Annapolis, Maryland?
We are marching and demonstrating to call attention to the “Noose Case,” in which two white Crofton, Maryland men are being tried at that courthouse for hanging a “noose” at the Crofton Middle School earlier this year. These men have been charged with a hate crime.
We are demonstrating for 2nd Lt. Richard Wilbur Collins, who was fatally stabbed by a white Severna Park, Maryland man, and to send a message that his death will not be in vain. The man who murdered him is not being charged with a hate crime.
We are protesting the fact that the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court in Annapolis, Maryland has never, in its over 366-year history, had a black woman, Asian or Latino to ever serve on the bench, despite the fact that many qualified applicants of color have applied. No Republican or Democratic governor, liberal or conservative, has ever appointed a black woman.
We are marching to demand that the court reflect the people that it serves. We are protesting a system that subsidizes discrimination. We are marching on Wednesday to protest an illicit system that continues to marginalize the lives of people of color.
We will assemble at 10:00 am at the Civil Rights Foot Soldiers Memorial ( across from the Arundel Center, 44 Calvert Street, Annapolis, Maryland.) Our 11:00 am demonstration will be multi-ethnic, determined and focused. We march for our children. We march for a brighter future. We march because there can be no peace where there is no justice.
Therefore, the question is not why are we protesting, but, rather, how can we afford not to?
Join us on Wednesday. Lend your voice to a cause greater than yourself. Stand up. Speak up. March on until victory is won.
A Luta Continua!
Carl Snowden is a political and civil rights leader in Annapolis.
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