We didn't go to the protest, the protest came to us
Let's face it, Long Island has a diversity problem. Nassau County and western Suffolk County are suburbs that grew, in part, because of "white flight" out of New York City. In Levittown, the quintessential suburb, property deeds have the (now unenforceable) restrictive covenant that the houses could not be sold to persons of color. Other neighborhoods had similar restrictions. Even today real estate agents try to steer customers into certain neighborhoods based on the buyer's racial or ethnic background.
Long Island is changing, but the change is way too slow.
Drew lives in a typical Long Island neighborhood. A neighborhood that was once segregated, but is now becoming more diverse. A quiet neighborhood, you wouldn't know that you're just a few short blocks from a major thoroughfare.
Until yesterday.
The protesters gathered in a supermarket parting lot, with their signs proclaiming "black lives matter". They didn't march down the main street. Instead they chose to march through a neighborhood. Drew's neighborhood. They stopped right in front of Drew's house to have their rally. They marched further down the street, turned around, marched past Drew's house again, and then returned to the supermarket.
We know one of the marchers, she's the daughter of a friend. She waved to us as she walked by the house.
Yesterday gave me hope, Hope for a better tomorrow.
I think change is going to come, and it's about time.
ReplyDeleteWe had a strange occurrence in our neighborhood on Wednesday night. It happened about 9:30 at night so it was dark, and our street isn't well lit. I don't know how many people there were, but many were wearing headlights, and they gathered in front of our house and a neighbor's, chanting "F the police." and yelling various obscenities. I suspect they knew my neighbor, and perhaps (all speculation) they weren't on good terms. We ended up calling the police after this went on for a few minutes. The police came and talked to these people for several minutes. They finally disbursed. Caused some minor damage to our front yard. There's been absolutely no news coverage of this and this is a small enough community that it may have been mentioned. I'd really like to know what happened. I'm glad your walk was more peaceful. We live a few blocks from a major thoroughfare, too. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteChange is already happening and am sure it will be a combination of slow and fast ~ The world is having a rude awakening that is well over due ~
ReplyDeleteBe Safe, Be Well,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
How fun. I take it you didn't join their march. These things seem to be popping up everywhere.
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