Hundreds of people gathered at Richardson’s Berkner Park on June 3 to condemn racial inequality and police brutality.

The protest was held to prop up the Black Lives Matter movement, which has garnered new attention since the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while he was in police custody.

Demonstrations have been happening daily around the country, but Isabela Marcano said it was important to her to bring the movement to Richardson. The recent Berkner High School graduate organized the protest alongside former RISD students Autumn Ray and MacKenzie Mitchel and current student Monique Mitchel. Marcano said she wanted to acknowledge that racial injustice exists everywhere.

“In order for this systematic change to happen, it has to happen everywhere, so from the big cities down to the small cities,” she said. “I hope that getting all these people together shows the community that this is a serious issue, and it's not just going to blow over and go away."

MacKenzie Mitchel said she felt it was her duty to stand up not only for victims whose names have made the headlines but also for those in her own community who have experienced racism. She said she will continue to protest injustice even once the chaos surrounding Floyd’s death has subsided.

“We are not going to just stop after two weeks when we are tired because we're never going to stop being black,” she said.

The protest was advertised as a peaceful event on social media to protect the integrity of the movement and the Richardson community, Marcano said

“As we've seen in all 50 states now, a lot of protests have turned violent because of people coming out and looting,” she said. “I didn't want that to happen here because this not only is my community, but it represents a cause that I really care about, and I didn't want it to be tainted by people with [disingenuous] expectations.”

True supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement are not looking to cause chaos or wreak havoc on the community, Marcano said. Rather, they are looking for acknowledgement of sanctioned violence and racism against black people, she added.

“I feel like to a certain extent, law enforcement has kind of dehumanized black people,” she said.

At the event, some of the protesters shared their experiences with racism and chanted the names of black people around the country who have died during various confrontations with police over the years. They also knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds–the same amount of time that Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed and lying face-down in the street. Chauvin and the other three officers involved face criminal charges.

Several members of the RISD community, including two teachers, spoke at the protest about their experiences with racism within the district. Seventh-year Berkner High School teacher Andre Watson said there were times when other faculty members seemed to downplay his black identity.

He also criticized what he and others perceived as half-hearted attempts by the district to be more equitable and inclusive, such as workshops on diversity that seemed to elicit disinterest from faculty, he said.

“I was silent, I was complicit. That’s why I have to speak now,” Watson said. “I promise you I will stay in this community and make sure there is change.”

Following a procession around the park and more speeches, the protest disbanded before the 7 p.m. curfew in Dallas to ensure those who came from surrounding areas would be home in time, the organizers said.

The organizers said they were amazed at the event’s turnout, which they thought would be 50 people at the most. They urged participants to keep up the fight.

“This is not the end of our fight for racial justice, civil justice, social justice, equality, anything,” Ray said. “This is just the beginning. This is the first time of many. We won't stop until change has happened.”