Black Major Movement Rally In Providence

Today in my city of Providence, Rhode Island I attended a rally for the Black Major Movement on the steps of City Hall.The Black Major Movement is working to make change in law enforcement, the judicial system, the school department and community organizations by calling for an increase in black leadership throughout the city of Providence, and in particular there is a call for the city to hire a black Major in the Providence Police Department, since there are no black officers higher than rank of Sargeant, and it has been this way for quite some time. The movement is being led by among others, community organizer, Kobi Dennis, founder of the Night Vision program, and the Providence Midnight Summer Basketball League, and Jim Vincent, President of the local NAACP.The rally was a peaceful one, with people holding signs calling for attention to the lack of representation of people of color in leadership roles throughout the city, as well as wearing signs on their backs that read, "Black Major Movement."  As noted in the Talk Back following Trinity Repertory Company's "Every 28 Hours" I wrote about last week, the call for equality, and the statement that Black Lives Matter is not calling for violence against police--in fact the flyers announcing today's rally circulated support that, clearly stating at the bottom, "Please Come In Peace As We Are Pro-Police." The rally is instead a call for awareness, a call to validate the rights and concerns of people of color, and a call to validate the deservedness that black people  should have people that look like them represented in community leadership.Here are some photos from today's rally. I'm hoping that change will come soon, and wish to keep doing what I can to support this important work.