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Why I Protest { 12 images } Created 27 Jul 2020

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  • Artists, business owners, students and many others are standing up for their right to breathe<br />
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Introduction by Otis R. Taylor Jr. | Photos, interviews by Yalonda M. James | June 8, 2020<br />
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The demonstrations against police violence in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis have been an awakening for some white Americans to systemic racism in the United States.<br />
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But for black people, this reality is nothing new. It is their existence from birth. In a private home or on a public street, black life is fragile because blackness is often regarded as a threat.<br />
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Black people have been protesting police violence in communities for decades, yet the country hasn’t responded with racial equity and police reform. Will it happen this time?<br />
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Black people are exhausted. But black people are also strong, and committed to not being silenced.<br />
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Their voices can no longer be dismissed or ignored.<br />
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Chronicle photographer Yalonda M. James spent several days this past week photographing black artists, business owners and students — black people standing up for their right to breathe.<br />
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“I need to hear from us,” James said of those she made portraits of. “We need to utilize this space for them.”<br />
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The protesters talked about how they feel about this moment, and why they had come out to protest.<br />
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Absorb their words. Justice and peace won’t be served until black voices are heard, appreciated and amplified.<br />
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The interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.<br />
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Nuri Nusrat, 40, left, of Oakland, Alysa Wilson, 31, of Oakland, and Minerva Arias, 38, from Washington Heights in New York City, prepare an ancestral altar in front of Cece Carpio's "We Got Us" mural at 14th and Broadway during a George Floyd protest at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 4, 2020. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week.
    Why I Protest
  • Ylan Isaac, 18, poses for a portrait at 14th and Broadway during a George Floyd protest in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week. Isaac, originally from Washington, DC, currently lives in Oakland, and is an undergrad student focusing on drawing and painting at the California College of the Arts.<br />
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“It is a responsibility everybody has whether they’re willing to take it on or not. Once you acknowledge that something is wrong, you are part of the issue when you don’t act on it. That’s it. Everybody’s scared, but everybody needs to be here. There’s power in numbers.”
    Why I Protest
  • Minerva Arias (left), 38, from Washington Heights in New York City, poses for a portrait between the George Floyd Lives Forever and Black Brown Unity murals after participating in a ceremony at an ancestral altar at 14th and Broadway during a George Floyd protest at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 4, 2020. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week.<br />
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“It’s really important to me to create spaces and experiences for other women of color — people of color — to really reconnect with their ancestors, to connect with their whole being, to connect with who they really are. As everything begins to change, systems are being destroyed, and we’re out here trying to create something new, it has to be with ancestors by our side.”
    Why I Protest
  • Tiphereth Banks opens her eyes for a moment during a photo shoot near 13th and Broadway in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, June 5, 2020. Banks, an artist and student, is painting a mural a block away. Artists have been creating art to remember George Floyd and other Black people murdered by policer other injustices. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week.<br />
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“I don’t feel our community is as united as it would like to be and they always choose the most chaotic moments to come together and they always choose destruction, murder — everything violent — to have a reason to unify and then after it’s over they separate again. It’s a constant cycle. You feel like you don’t need nobody until you need somebody. George needed you every day, and you came after he died. There will never be another George Floyd situation if y’all make sure y’all are unified.”
    Why I Protest
  • Shan'a Mason, 42, left, hugs her children Aamina Mason, 10, center, and Assata Mitchell, 20, right, as they stand near 14th and Broadway following a protest at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 4, 2020. The family, who are from San Leandro, attended the event to honor the late George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week.<br />
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“I’m here because I’m the mother of three black kings — 21, 12 and 6 — and I would never want to be George Floyd’s mom and experience the type of devastation and heartache that she had to experience. So I’m here just to show solidarity. I need to be out here. I felt compelled to be out here. And my daughter wanted to come.”
    Why I Protest
  • Refa One, an artist and muralist, poses for a portrait near 14th and Broadway in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, June 5, 2020. Artists have been creating art to remember George Floyd and other Black people murdered by policer and other injustices. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week.<br />
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“I’m out here because it’s time for African people to organize against the system of white supremacy, and organize and connect with our brothers and sisters<br />
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in the diaspora in terms of this Pan-African movement. It’s time for us to make our voices clear. And as an artist, it is the job of the artist to plant the seeds into the imagination for revolution for black people.”
    Why I Protest
  • Delvin Hodges, 24, poses for a portrait near 14th and Broadway during a protest at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 4, 2020. Hodges, who is originally from Memphis, TN, but currently lives in San Francisco, attended the event to honor the late George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week. "I just want to walk down the street one day and not have ugly looks," Hodges said. "When that day will come, I don't know. But we're protesting now to be a catalyst for this generation and the future generation to make that change."
    Why I Protest
  • Angel Robbson, 19, a restaurant server from Fairfield, poses for a portrait at 14th and Broadway during a George Floyd protest in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week.<br />
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“I’m here for my nephews and my nieces, ’cause they deserve to have somebody to advocate for them and let them know that their voices need to be heard and that they matter. It hurts that people see black people as a threat, because we’re just trying to live our lives.”
    Why I Protest
  • Nee, who didn't provide her last name, poses for a portrait with her son Semaje Williams, 11, of Oakland, outside of 150 Broadway in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, June 5, 2020. Nee, 31, is a licensed medical personnel, emergency room technician. Nee says her son was teargassed by Oakland police officers during a George Floyd protest last week. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week.<br />
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“To be medical personnel, to be part of the first responder team, and then to keep seeing that other first responders are harming the people instead of helping the people — we see what’s going on and we know that it’s wrong. We cannot keep allowing law enforcement to hurt the people just so they can bring them to us and expect for us to save them.”
    Why I Protest
  • Semaje Williams, 11, of Oakland, poses for a portrait near 14th and Broadway during a protest at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 4, 2020.<br />
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“I feel scared. But we'll get through all of this and not have to deal with this again. My mom wanted to show me what it looks like outside, and then we just chose to paint.”
    Why I Protest
  • Ailish Elzy, 28, of Oakland, poses for a portrait in front of a George Floyd mural at 14th and Broadway during a George Floyd protest in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week. Elzy is  a grad student at San Francisco State and an Oakland Museum employee.<br />
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“It’s just important to take care of Oakland and be here, showing our city and our people that we love and appreciate them. We have to protect our city and our people. It’s really hard to compartmentalize being here and also having to go to work and go to school. Having those separate is difficult because you’re just constantly Black.”
    Why I Protest
  • Alysa Wilson, 31, of Oakland, poses for a portrait in front of the Black Brown Unity mural at 14th and Broadway during a George Floyd protest at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 4, 2020. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week.<br />
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“What I’ve learned from handling this collective grief at the same time as this personal one (her grandmother died in May) is that rest is productive. In order to be prepared to usher in the new systems that will serve us in the future, we need to take care of our bodies and minds, and rest.”
    Why I Protest