The July 4 holiday will be marked by celebrations of America’s birthday, as well as protests against police brutality and racism, particularly in the nation’s capital, where at least 20 protests are scheduled for Saturday.
Black Lives Matter protesters are expected to stage a memorial march for George Floyd, the 46-year-old black man who died in Minneapolis police custody in late May.
The march, which was scheduled to begin at 9:30 am Saturday, will run from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.
A memorial rally will be held for Floyd at Ellipse, the large 52-acre park just south of the White House fence.
Protesters gathered in support of the Black Lives Matter for a march in Washington, DC, on Saturday
The nation’s capital will organize at least 20 marches, sit-ins, rallies, and protests on the July 4 holiday.
A memorial rally will be held for George Floyd at Ellipse, the large 52-acre park just south of the White House fence
Another rally scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday will take place under the banner ‘All Americans Unite.’
The march will be held in solidarity with all communities, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
A separate protest titled Million Man March On Washington is slated to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
It will start at the Martin Luther King Jr National Monument and then proceed to the White House and finally to the United States Capitol building.
Outside of the Supreme Court, a ‘peaceful sit-down for black women’ will be held from 10 am Saturday to 6 pm
An organization called the Freedom Day Foundation is planning a ‘blackout march’ in which all participants are asked to wear black clothing as they walk in a procession that begins in the Capitol Reflective Pool at 12pm
Another march that is not affiliated with the local Black Lives Matter chapter is slated to begin at 12:30 pm at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Protesters will receive red, black and green banners and gather together to form a pan-African flag as they march in procession to the Washington Monument.
Protesters march to the Boston Common in Boston on June 14. Demonstrations, marches, sit-ins, and other events are scheduled across the United States on Saturday.
Other marches and demonstrations are scheduled, including one in Malcolm X Park that will start at 3 pm
Military veterans will march in solidarity with Black Lives Matter from the McPherson Square subway stop at 4pm to President Trump’s ‘Salute to America’ event in the South Lawn of the White House.
There will also be a military flyover and fireworks over the mall.
Various protests of racial injustice, marches and sit-ins are also scheduled to take place across the country on Saturday.
In Chicago, some 2,000 people said on Facebook that they were interested in attending a rally and marching downtown.
Event planners said they will ask participants to kneel silently for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd.
A violinist will also play the black national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing.
In Brooklyn, a coalition of LGBTQ activists, filmmakers, and historians is organizing a ‘Confronting July 4’ protest march that begins around 2:30 p.m. Fort Greene Park.
The organizers of the march said they refuse to celebrate the laundering of this country.
Instead, we will actively and joyfully celebrate and honor ancestors and activists who have fought and continue to fight tirelessly for people’s lives and rights. “
In Boston, protesters plan to participate in a “Say Your Name” protest and rally in support of black women.
The rally will begin at Nubia Square and continue to Boston Common, where organizers plan a ‘celebratory’ event.
“There will be radical joy and dancing because, as Audre Lorde wrote,” It’s better to talk / remember / we were never meant to survive, “” the Facebook event description reads.
‘Women hold half the sky across the world and have always been essential, yet black women are often overlooked, erased, and devalued.
‘Appears for Black Womxn. I support black women.
A rally is scheduled at the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Park on Saturday night.
Black Lives Matter protesters kneel in Nashville on June 4
The theme of the protest is ‘reparations meeting’ and participants are urged to wear red, green and black.
Several protests and rallies have been scheduled in New Jersey, including one in Maplewood in memory of Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old black man who died in police custody in August last year.
Demonstrations are also planned for Newark, Plainfield and Atlantic City.
All protests, in theory, should have ended before the night’s celebration at the mall.
Public health officials have been preparing for a further surge in virus cases after the celebrations and protests this weekend.
Some link the latest outbreak to the late outcome of widespread celebrations during the Memorial Day holiday in late May, and to the reopening of some states’ economies from that time.
And they see this Independence Day weekend as a possible turning point, at worst, a repeat of the post-Memorial Day revival.
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