Calls for councilman to resign mark 5th weekend of Southern California protests
Calls for a Santa Clarita councilman to resign. A Junípero Serra statue shrouded and chained by demonstrators. And dance circles in North Hollywood Park.
Those were just a few of the actions taken by protesters throughout Los Angeles County on Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27, marking the fifth straight weekend of demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality.
The protests began the week of Memorial Day, when George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota, died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.
The most recent demonstrations in LA County kicked off Friday afternoon when about 75 people marched to the Sheriff’s Department’s Santa Clarita Station, where they demanded the resignation of City Councilman Bob Kellar, who in 2010 called himself a “proud racist” at a rally against illegal immigration.
Kellar stood by his remarks at the time, saying they reflected his frustration with illegal immigration, but weren’t intended to express animosity against nonwhites.
“It doesn’t mean I’m going to saddle up the horses at midnight,” he said then.
Kellar has announced his plans to retire and will not run for re-election this year, but protesters on Friday said he should resign before the November election.
“The young people are coming out here in Santa Clarita,” protester Sedastian Cezaren said, “and saying we’re not tolerating racism and bigotry, and we’re calling out our community and the people who are in power.”
Protesters in #SantaClarita CA call for the resignation of councilman #BobKellar over #racist comments he has made. #BLM #Valencia pic.twitter.com/0Imble9r8d
— David Crane (@vidcrane) June 26, 2020
On Saturday, about 50 people protested at the Mission San Fernando Rey de España in Mission Hills, where demonstrators covered a statue of Junípero Serra — an 18th-century Spanish priest who founded several missions throughout modern-day California — with plastic tarps and chains around its neck. On its face, a sign was taped calling Serra the “Father of Genocide.”
Speakers at the event called Serra an invader of indigenous land and likened the mission to a “concentration camp.”
“We felt the necessity to come out here today,” said Cozkacuauhtli Huitzilzenteotl, 48, of Pacoima. “We saw the urgency. This invader here before us — Junípero Serra — the first mission was in 1769, and they built them all the way until 1823, and that’s genocide.
“Before this was the U.S., it was Mexico. Before it was Mexico, it was indigenous lands.”
But a handful of people also showed up to defend Serra and the mission.
“I know Father Junípero Serra has been slighted by the Native/indigenous that he was a bad man,” said Johnny Romero, 54, of San Fernando. “I think that’s completely revisionist history.
“They highlight things, and they exaggerate things, and they make him out to be 10 times worse than he actually was,” Romero added. “He (did) a lot of good things.”
@ladailynews pic.twitter.com/z2F7jvKkyJ
— Eric Anthony Licas (@EricLicas) June 27, 2020
Dozens of other demonstrations unfolded Saturday, including a roller-skating protest in Encino and a Black joy rally and dance in North Hollywood.
Dancing, singers and poetry during the Black Joy Rally Dance, heal, celebration of life at North Hollywood Park. #protest #coronavirus #COVID19 #pandemic #BlackLivesMattters #BlackLivesMattters #northhollywood #losangeles #california #photography #blackjoyrally pic.twitter.com/DwWU3DlL8J
— Keith Birmingham (@photowkb) June 27, 2020
At the Black joy rally, the tone was markedly different from that of other demonstrations. Attendees danced and clapped to upbeat music.
Dancing at the Black Joy Rally at North Hollywood Park. #protest #BlackLivesMatter #blackjoyrally #coronavirus #pandemic #leica #photography pic.twitter.com/O9p4NcQYOh
— Keith Birmingham (@photowkb) June 27, 2020
“There’s a lot of sadness, a lot of heaviness in our lives, and we felt we needed to uplift our people in the best way we know how, which is through dance and music and the arts,” Daisha Graf, one of the organizers, said. “So we’re out here to heal and fill our cups so we can keep pushing forward.
“It’s really exciting to see people coming together,” she added, “in a way I’ve never seen before.”
City News Service contributed to this report.