
LIVE: Demonstration for racial justice on Fairfield Green
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The Fairfield County Chapter of Showing up for Social Justice will hold a rally Thursday, July 21 at noon on the Sherman Green in Fairfield, CT.The Fairfield County Chapter of Showing up for Social Justice will hold a rally Thursday, July 21 at noon on the Sherman Green in Fairfield, CT.Photo: Contributed / Contributed Photo
FAIRFIELD — Just around the corner from the Fairfield Police Department a planned rally for social justice is expected to bring a crowd Thursday.
The Fairfield County chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people to advocate for racial justice, will hold a demonstration at noon, Thursday, July 21 on Sherman Green in Fairfield to call for an immediate end to police violence against Black people across America.
The Fairfield Citizen will have reporters on scene that you can follow via Twitter who will be live tweeting and live streaming via Periscope. You can following Genevieve Reilly and Laura Weiss. You can also come back to this page for posts updating the events on the green.
“We’re calling for the transformation of policing in our society to refocus its purpose and implementation so that Black people are no longer being tortured, brutalized and murdered by police,” said Michael Merli, 30, founder of SURJ Fairfield County in a statement released by the group.
The local group is calling on elected officials throughout Fairfield County and beyond to commit to clear, concrete steps to reduce the further potential of state violence against Black people so that it can no longer be an agent of anti-Black oppression.
“We are taking action in solidarity with Movement for Black Lives organizers,” said Maureen Leahy, 40, a member of SURJ and the Unitarian Universalist. “They are occupying, demonstrating, marching and chanting for a new future in which our Black neighbors can be free from state-sanctioned violence and oppression, free to be themselves, and to enjoy the same access to justice, dignity and respect that White people have. We echo their call for #FreedomNow”.
SURJ National is planning a number of demonstrations and public actions to support Movement for Black Lives organizers throughout the day and evening of July 21.