Local Activists Plan DNC Demonstration
They've been holding "banner drops" to support families of victims of police killings.
Despite the Democratic National Convention ending up as a shadow of what was expected, an activist group is still preparing for action on the final day of the convention.
The Coalition to March on DNC started planning their protest in April 2019. They created nine points of unity, as they call it, on which they’ve built their demonstration.
Omar Flores, with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, one of the key organizations behind the coalition, said that while the convention may have changed, their plans have not. They will march on the convention Thursday, the day Joe Biden will accept the Democratic nomination.
Since Monday, the group has been doing banner drops around Milwaukee, with banners listing names of men that have been killed by police. The banner reads “We Can’t Breathe” and “DNC Are You Listening See You Aug. 20”.
“Activism doesn’t start and stop at the voting booth,” Flores said, “we have to be out here in the streets demanding justice, especially for people that have died at the hands of police brutality here in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa.”
Flores told Urban Milwaukee the drops are to show support for the families of the victims, and also to build momentum going into their march on Thursday. The first was in Red Arrow Park, where Dontre Hamilton was killed by a Milwaukee Police Officer in 2014.
Tuesday evening, the group dropped a banner from the top of the parking garage outside the Milwaukee Police Department’s Administration Building at 749 W. State St. There were only a handful of people there, most of them ACLU legal observers, members of the media or coalition members.
Photo Gallery
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits, all detailed here.
More about the 2020 Racial Justice Protests
- Evers Reflects on Year of Pandemic, Protests - Shawn Johnson - Dec 28th, 2020
- The Year of the National Guard - Jenny Peek - Dec 28th, 2020
- Baldwin Questions U.S. Marshall’s Role in Tosa Protests - Isiah Holmes - Dec 19th, 2020
- Op Ed: Vote No on COPS Grant - Markasa Tucker - Dec 18th, 2020
- People’s Revolution Marks 200 Days of Protest - Graham Kilmer - Dec 15th, 2020
- Supervisor Clancy Applauds Activists on 200th Day of Protests - Sup. Ryan Clancy - Dec 14th, 2020
- The “Molotov Cocktail” That Wasn’t - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 23rd, 2020
- City Hall: Police Chief, Alderman Fight Over Use of Canines - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 23rd, 2020
- Will BLM Movement Sway State Voters? - Bridgit Bowden - Oct 20th, 2020
- City Hall: Community Groups Propose Changes - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 19th, 2020
Read more about 2020 Racial Justice Protests here
More about the DNC
- City Hall: How Much Did DNC Cost Milwaukee? - Jeramey Jannene - Sep 16th, 2020
- Get Your DNC Memorabilia - Jeramey Jannene - Aug 25th, 2020
- Murphy’s Law: Will Biden’s DNC Snub Hurt Him In State? - Bruce Murphy - Aug 24th, 2020
- Activist Coalition Holds Largest March of DNC - Ethan Duran - Aug 21st, 2020
- DNC: Last Night Brings Little Exposure for Milwaukee - Jeramey Jannene - Aug 20th, 2020
- With DNC as Backdrop, A Discussion of Black Liberation - Ethan Duran - Aug 20th, 2020
- Suburban Protesters March From Tosa to DNC - Ethan Duran - Aug 20th, 2020
- DNC: With A “Holy Mackerel” Tony Evers Kicks Off DNC - Jeramey Jannene - Aug 19th, 2020
- DNC Rural Council Snubs Wisconsin - Henry Redman - Aug 19th, 2020
- Pop-Up Poetry Protest Performs Downtown - Ethan Duran - Aug 19th, 2020
Read more about DNC here