Juneteenth Rally Draws Hundreds In Brookline

BROOKLINE, MA — Several hundred people showed up to March down Harvard Street from Coolidge Corner to the Brookline police station for the"Enough is Enough Rally for Change" to mark "Juneteenth." The holiday, which stretches back to 1865, has taken on a new meaning this year.

The event began around 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Florida Ruffin Ridley school in Coolidge Corner (formerly known as the Devotion School and then the Coolidge Corner School) and participants filled the street to march from the school to the Brookline Police Department in Brookline Village on Washington Street, where about a dozen officers stood in a line behind a metal barrier. About 10 feet back a line of volunteers stood to keep the police and protesters, who were shouting things like "quit your job," and "who do you protect?" at them as the officers silently stood.

The Brookline youth-run rally comes in the wake of the death of George Floyd last week after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes in May. The death of Floyd sparked protests and rallies across the country, including several civil rights rallies across Boston that have brought out as many as 20,000 people. On June 6 a demonstration attracted hundreds of people to march from Cleveland Circle to Brookline's Amory Park. That rally also ended at the Brookline Police Department.

Organizers of this march call it a protest to demand and end to white supremacy and police brutality. As with a number of rallies in the region, protesters are asking for money budgeted for the police department be funneled to support social programing in the town.

"We are asking for an immediate 50 percent cut to the police budget to be diverted to: 1. Invest in Schools 2. Invest in Mental Health Treatments 3. Invest in affordable housing 4. Commit to immigration reform 5. Create A Police Oversight Committee," organizers said in the event notice.

In Boston, Mayor Martin Walsh said he plans to cut $12 million from the Boston Police Department's overtime budget and allocate that for social programs. There are two proposals heading to Brookline Town Meeting next week that call for decreasing the police budget by 10 percent and by 17 percent, and routing the money elsewhere.

The protest was largely peaceful, though at one point shortly after the crowd arrived at the police station an argument broke out between two protesters. One woman holding a megaphone wanted the crowd to celebrate the day, while another woman in the crowd shouted back that couldn't happen while people were still being oppressed. The two yelled back and forth until two Town Meeting Members stepped in to calm them, including Town Meeting Member Arthur Conquest, who tried to tell the woman with the megaphone she didn't need to use it to yell at the other woman.

Conquest, while he agreed that steps should be taken, said when it came to screaming at all it was counter productive.

"All this screaming at the police: It doesn't help. If you have concerns call your Town Meeting members, call your Select Board. But the screaming and the F-you... It's not helping," he told Patch.

Eventually someone on a megaphone asked that the program move along.

At the end of the rally, a handful of protesters walked to the metal barrier and struck up conversations with officers.

Theresa McSorley of Coolidge Corner said she was just curious about the police officers' perspective and said she was pleased to have an open conversation.

"I just wanted to hear, from his perspective, what would help," she told Patch afterward.

She asked one officer about trainings, and said she was surprised to learn that there was only one social worker in the department.

"Wouldn't it make sense if all police officers were required to get certified in social work before being sworn in?" she said. "Why couldn't that be a requirement?"

Read more:

• How To Support Black-Owned Businesses In Brookline
• Brookline To Raise Banner To Support Black Lives Matter: Greene
• Brookline Black Lives Matter March Draws Hundreds To Amory Park
• Brookline Youth Of The Year Award: Saya Ameli Hajebi
• Brookline Lays Off Teachers, Staff As Town Revenue

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, a column, event or opinion piece.