Small group of Black Lives Matter activists hold silent protest at Topeka City Council meeting
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – The fight for racial equality is making it’s way into Topeka’s City Council chambers.
A small number of protesters from Topeka’s Black Lives Matter movement went to Topeka’s council meeting Tuesday night to send a message to city leaders.
About seven people participated in the silent protest holding signs that said “Black Lives Matter.” They started outside of the building and then walked inside during the meeting to ensure that council members would see them and understand their message.
An organizer said it was important for them to make sure the city leaders saw the demonstration, because they want to see them take action in the community.
Councilwoman Karen Hiller thanked the protesters for coming during the meeting. She said she also wants to see real change for people of color in Topeka.
“We need to keep this conversation going. We need to. In one of the rallies one of the speakers really laid it out in a very simple way. He asked the audience ‘What is your goal?’ And there was no answer. So we as a community need to have the conversations and say ‘What is our goal? Where do we want to go?’ Because you can’t get there if you haven’t talked about it,” Hiller said. “So if we can do that and then start to pull together, and there are lots of people that want to do that to make progress. It’s really important and as I said, I’m in.”
The organizer of the protest said their group was intentionally small so that they could control their message and really make a statement to city leaders.
The group also said Tuesday night is just the beginning for them. They plan to come back with more people to the next city council meeting.
They’re also inviting everyone to come out to be part of a protest at the Capitol on June 19th.