Hackney Black Lives Matter protesters will ‘channel passion and energy’ for change
The Black Lives Matter protest outside Hackney Town Hall. Picture: Sasha Simic - Credit: Archant
Protesters demanded an end to racism in another demonstration outside Hackney Town Hall.
Rabbi Herschel Gluck with protesters at the Black Lives Matter protest outside Hackney Town Hall. Picture: Sasha Simic - Credit: Archant
About 400 people heard from a variety of speakers at the Black Lives Matter solidarity vigil on June 10, including Hackney mayor Philip Glanville and local councillors Soraya Adejare (Dalston ward) and Susan Jumoke Fajana-Thomas (Stoke Newington ward).
The roster also included Hackney National Education Union’s president Des Barrow; youth worker Dean Ryan; Lorna Solomon of Homerton Hospital’s Unison branch; Rabbi Herschel Gluck; chair of the North London Muslim Community Centre, Munaf Zeena; and youth coordinator and advice centre assistant at the Daymer Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre, Yelda Celik.
READ MORE: Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott speaks out in solidarity with George Floyd protestersREAD MORE: Hundreds gather for Hackney Black Lives Matter vigil“We say enough is enough,” said Rabbi Gluck. “But we are not just about knocking down the statues of the old, evil people.
“We are here to build a new better future.
The Black Lives Matter protest outside Hackney Town Hall. Picture: Sasha Simic - Credit: Archant
“Too many black lives have been lost because society does not care about black lives, because the system is broken and doesn’t do enough to stop the murder of hundreds of young lives that have been killed through gang warfare, through knife crime, through weapons.
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“If this had happened to young white, middle-class kids - this would have been stopped years ago.”
He said “power, passion and energy” should be channelled to bring about “fundamental change to the structure of society”.
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The demonstration was organised by Hackney Stand Up To Racism, which held similar events on June 3 and 7.
Workers at Homerton Hospital took the knee in a spontaneous demonstration, Radiology Against Racism. Picture: Jordan Rivera - Credit: Archant
Black Lives Matter has gained momentum around the world after a policeman killed a black man by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Cllr Glanville said: “We just held a minute silence, but George Floyd didn’t get that minute silence. He had eight minutes and 46 seconds of a police officer, who should have been there to care and protect him, on his throat.”
This comes as workers at Homerton Hospital took the knee in a spontaneous demonstration and a Black Lives Matter protest attracted thousands of people in Newington Green on June 13.
Workers at Homerton Hospital took the knee in a spontaneous demonstration, Radiology Against Racism. Picture: Jordan Rivera - Credit: Archant
