Bolingbrook March To Honor Juneteenth, Fight Racial Injustice

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Two Bolingbrook residents are set to lead a march through the village Friday to commemorate Juneteenth and stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, condemning the death of 46-year-old George Floyd.

Laresa Phillips and Ashley Harvey are organizing this for the first time, but said they'd like to make this "a new tradition for our community to enjoy for years to come."

The march will start at 5 p.m. on the corner of Lily Cache and Route 53 near the Bolingbrook currency exchange. Participants will walk all the way to the village hall, where they observe 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence to honor Floyd.

Juneteenth, also known as Jubilee Day or Freedom Day, is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. More than 150 years later, "we are the living, breathing fruit, maintained and planted by our ancestors," Harvey said, and hundreds will march on this significant day "to give thanks for the resilience, the beauty and the grace passed down to our people" from their ancestors.

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"Although, it’s been front and center again the last few months, the real problem, racism, never goes away," she said. "We see it, we hear it, deal with it every day. But, we deserve a day to just love on one another. Time to remind each other what’s so amazing about us and our culture. To grieve for those we’ve lost and give thanks that were alive and together on this precious day."

Phillips said it takes a "sick and heartless" person to be able to watch the life of a man "leave his body while having complete control to stop it," referring to the Minneapolis police officer who knelt on Floyd's neck while trying to arrest him.

This incident was a turning point in the Black community, she said, because "we were able to all witness it without distraction as being quarantined has allowed people to focus on more important things."

"It was so incredibly sad, that I wept for a stranger as if he was my own family. I was just tired of talking about it on social media behind the safety of my phone," she said. "Seeing everyone out in the streets unified gave me inspiration and sparked a fire deep inside that made me finally say 'I have to do something about this.'"

Both organizers said they believe the Black Lives Matter movement is a direct response to the countless racist encounters that "we receive time and again."

"I have sat through countless videos of Black men, women, and children being assaulted or murdered at the hands of racists and racist police officers," Harvey said. "But I could not make it through Floyd’s. It’s a disgusting abuse of power and I pray the proper charges are brought forth. As far as BLM, I know that it’s an organization now. But before it was a movement, it was just a factual statement. That's how I feel about it."

Philips said they reached out to all the village officials and received the required permits to host this event. The Bolingbrook Police Department will be present, and to ensure the safety of the participants, she has encouraged everyone to wear masks and maintain social distancing on the streets.

Harvey said what they're doing is "fully out of love" and they just want to peacefully celebrate 155 years of Black freedom. For Phillips, this is also about establishing that "the color of my skin does not make me the enemy and my life matters just as much as anyone else’s."

"It is easy to express your outrage and sorrow for the tragedies that stricken our community, but until we actually put out the proper legwork then change will not come," she said. "I am ready to fight for what we deserve."