Manhattan Beach: Watch Video Of Black Lives Matter, ARMs Protest

PREVIOUSLY: Locals Remember Emmett Till At Bruce's Beach In Manhattan Beach

RELATED: Active Protest In Manhattan Beach By BLM And Anti-Racist Movement

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — A Manhattan Beach woman and her group Anti-Racist Movement in South Bay Los Angeles partnered with Black Lives Matter out of Los Angeles to hold a peaceful protest in Manhattan Beach today [Saturday, August 29]. A crowd of about 30-40 attended, according to the Manhattan Beach Police Department, and participated in the rally held at City Hall that then proceeded down city streets to Bruce's Beach. It ended on the sand and at water's edge with a four-man band playing, flowers, and some 50+ people standing along the shore.

The protest at City Hall centered on reparations and restitution for Blacks in the United States, as well as for the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce, who owned beachside land from 1912 to approximately 1927 and ran a resort where African Americans could swim in the ocean, hang out on the beach, dance, dine, or stay overnight. That land was taken from the Bruces, who were Black, by the City of Manhattan Beach's board of trustees through an eminent domain action that took a large swath of property from additional property owners next to and near the Bruce's land under the guise of needing to build a city park.

Kavon Ward, a Black Manhattan Beach resident, has been the guiding force behind ARMs, the movement that began calling attention to the racist actions used to eliminate African Americans from Manhattan Beach in the 1920s. She and co-founders Autumn Moore and Misty Castaneda organized a Juneteenth event at Bruce's Beach to focus attention on the wrongs committed against the Bruce family. Covered by the Daily Breeze, a local daily newspaper, the ensuing article cemented that focus. When the Los Angeles Times and New York Times covered the decades-old story, as well, Bruce's Beach and its true history began to come to light. That history had been buried and not disclosed in its harsh reality of what had transpired, even after the Bruce family left Manhattan Beach. Many young Manhattan Beach residents, when told of the full history, have been upset that the events happened and that they had not learned about the history of Bruce's Beach in school.

ARMs, which includes women of color and White women, has held other events at Bruce's Beach since the Juneteenth activity, including a birthday celebration for Breonna Taylor, who was born on June 5th and died this year after police shot her inside her apartment, and a recognition of Emmett Till on what would have been his 79th birthday on July 25. The group also held a forum on "Past, Present & Future of Public Safety in MB " last Friday that was hacked into, with racial slurs written across the presentation attendees were viewing. Ward has also spoken out on Nextdoor and Facebook and called in and made comments during the public comment portion of Manhattan Beach City Council meetings.

RELATED: Manhattan Beach: Racist Words, Hackers Invade Online Presentation

The Instagram posts below are from ARMs account and show portions of today's protest. Speakers do use the F word during their remarks.