George Floyd Demonstration in Downtown San Diego
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Photos by Tom and Nadin Abbott
It starts in the Hall of justice, that’s where justice starts.”
Adisa at San Diego Hall of Justice, May 31st, 2020
It was peaceful, at least the five hours we spent with the demonstrators. However, there is a lot of anger with the crowd, which was mostly young, and from all skin colors. However, it was led by black activists, some young some older. The precipitating event is two-fold. The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the arrest of a young black man by a La Mesa police officer, who has since gone to paid leave.
The march started at ten in the morning at the Hall of Justice, where a lot of the anger is directed at. Why? The justice system is not blind, or as Adisa put it:
“The agenda is peaceful. We are in the right place for change.” She pointed at the Hall of Justice, “change starts in here. Change starts at the top. Not even the president, well if we had one, anything could change of what we have to endure on a daily basis.”
She added that “the reason that changes starts here is that the judges can no longer give rogue police a place to hide.”
She did point to the right place where change starts and this is with a local, state, and national leadership that needs to first see the problem, and act on it. It is time, and this was a feeling among those marching, to leave behind the systems of social control going back centuries.
She also mentioned that a lot of our police officers, when they go before the court, “the agenda is to make the judges accountable. If you are a civil servant you should not be entitled to a trial by judge. (Bench trial) You need to face your peers!”
Adisa also said that black leaders, “they’re tired, we need a new face.” She also admitted that she is not that, and admonished the young, that “you need…