Here are three ways Black Lives Matter protests changed America | PennLive Editorial
Updated Apr 30, 2021;
One year after the Black Lives Matter protests: what did they achieve? A year after people in Pennsylvania and all over the country took to the streets to protest the murder of George Floyd, has anything changed?
Those are the questions PennLive posed to activists and law enforcement officials last week. And the answer was a resounding yes.
Protesters such as political activist Shavonnia Corbin-Johnson and Kevin Maxson, with Voice for the Voiceless, say the protests mattered, and those who shouted against racism in town squares should be proud of what they achieved. We agree. And what may be surprising, so do officials such as Harrisburg Police Commissioner Thomas C. Carter, Carlisle Mayor Tim Scott and Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo. They all shared their thoughts last week on PennLive’s “Black Lives Matter: One Year Later” webinar that was broadcast li
Updated: 11:38 PM EDT April 20, 2021
HARRISBURG, Pa. The Capitol steps remained empty hours after the guilty verdict of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, in stark contrast to the thousands of protesters who filled the steps last summer after the death of George Floyd.
“America got the opportunity to see what it is to be Black in America on TV one time. I don’t know if many of them are going to get it, but a lot of us have seen it,” said Kevin Maxson, founder of Voices 4 the Voiceless and organizer of several Black Lives Matter protests in Harrisburg last year. “It’s like going that roller coaster the first time, that feeling. We’ve seen it and we understood it and we understand it every day we walk out of our homes.”
Central Pa. reacts to verdict at trial over George Floyd s death PennLive.com 1 hr ago
Central Pa. reacts to verdict at trial over George Floyd s death
Tina Nixon is the senior vice president, mission effectiveness, and chief diversity officer at PinnacleHealth Hospitals. Her reaction to the verdict:“Our work continues … we must address racism at all levels in all industries. This is a movement not a moment. The spotlight is on us to make changes.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland s statement following the verdict: The jury in the state trial of Derek Chauvin has fulfilled its civic duty and rendered a verdict convicting him on all counts. While the state’s prosecution was successful, I know that nothing can fill the void that the loved ones of George Floyd have felt since his death. The Justice Department has previously announced a federal civil rights investigation into the death of George Floyd. This investigation is ongoing.
Harrisburg-area activists hope this is ‘the beginning of justice,’ but say there is more work to do
Updated 8:43 PM;
Today 8:32 PM
Daryel Simmons reaches up to touch the names of Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor as she came to a George Floyd memorial mural after learning of the guilty verdict on all counts in the murder trial of former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, in Houston. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)AP
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After the summer of 2020 protests, riots, and marches on the streets of America and here in central Pennsylvania, several area activists said they are more focused on transforming the future than ever before in light of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdicts.