The streets of Fort Worth were the latest stage for a Black Lives Matter rally on Saturday night. About a 100 people showed up for a peaceful protest. Fort Worth police mounted and bike patrol were both on hand but never needed to step in.
It was a mixed crowd of people of different races, ethnicities and ages. There were several families there too, sharing their experiences and looking for ways to heal racial divides.
Through chants and signs, the crowd called for an end to cases of police brutality and racial profiling.
“It isn’t a matter of race,” said protest organizer Cheryl Ananda. “For me, it’s a matter of right and wrong.”
But the conversation about police and the public starts at home, and often sounds different in a black household than in a white one.
“As a family, we want to say that we’re extremely concerned about it, the fact that it keeps happening, that we experience it,” said Fort Worth resident David Woody.
Woody and his wife, Debra, see it in their careers as social workers, their daughter, Jordan, as an attorney and former Dallas County District Attorney.
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“I worked with a lot of police officers and I definitely have the utmost respect for the work that they do and the fact they put their lives on the line,” said Jordan Woody. “But you also have to understand that when my dad drives in the car, he is a black male, it doesn’t matter that he has a PHD and that he is a great guy and he’s very nice. That black face is what they see first and foremost.”
Mary Noer and her daughter, Carina Terry, have been talking too, about how to lend their voices.
“You can’t just have the people that are being oppressed be speaking up about it,” said Terry.
And when the rallies are through, supporters hope the conversations in every household can move closer together.
“This is a people issue and so I think that we all have to join together,” said Debra Woody.
Fort Worth police are still patrolling in two-man units and remain on high alert after the Dallas shooting. Folks at the rally said their hearts were broken in that tragedy, but it doesn't change their message.
