george floyd protests

Talk Radio Callers Find Their Voice in Wake of George Floyd Killing and Protests

KHVN Heaven 97's Community Forum talk show has been dedicated to talking about the killing of George Floyd and the protests that have followed.

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"Welcome back to Community Forum here on Heaven 97," News Director and Host Robert Ashley said into the microphone Tuesday afternoon. "We're continuing to deal with the aftermath of all that's been going on."

Ashley said his talk show has been all about the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police, and the protests that have followed. Though he has talked about issues of police brutality in the past, Ashley said this time is different.

"Because it seems like not only black America has been sensitized, but the entire nation," Ashley said. "It seems like there is kind of a universal sense of outrage, a universal sense of sympathy."

Ashley took calls from community leaders and listeners. He said there have been mixed feelings about the protests and the damage that sometimes follows.

"Because typically when Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X protested, they didn't tear down their own communities," Ashley said. "There are many who believe the protests have been hijacked."

Ashley said he's seeing more interest in talking about this particular in-custody death of an unarmed black man.

"I guess it just goes to show that maybe there's a double standard; one for one group, and one for another," Ashley pointed out. "But now everybody has seen the injustice."

Now, more than ever, it's important to have a place where people are heard. Ashley said KHVN has always been that.

"Because we give a voice to those who haven't had a voice," Ashley said.

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