Houston, TX – Over 100 people marched through Houston's Third Ward, Sept. 24, to protest police brutality and demand justice for victims of police killings. The march began with a few speeches in front of the Martin Luther King statue in MacGregor Park, located near the University of Houston. After dozens of people had gathered, they began to march in the streets.

The protesters marched into the street chanting “Black lives matter!” and defied police orders to take up only one lane. Dozens of cops appeared, but the protesters kept marching through the streets. They marched through the University of Houston, and students from all over the campus joined in.

After rallying on the campus, they marched to Spur 5, which is a large highway. Hundreds of cops formed a barrier but the protesters kept marching. Protesters were shouted at the cops, “We ain't scared,” and “You don't protect us, so we won't do what you tell us!” Even when the cops were threatening to arrest everyone, the crowd remained unified and more people joined in. Because of the unity and determination of the crowd, the cops were unable to break up the protest.

After rallying over 100 people, mostly African American, and some children even, the protesters marched through Third Ward, a historically African American neighborhood. Police started to show up on horses with batons, making threats and trying to scare the protesters, to which they chanted, “Whose streets, our streets!”

At the intersection of Wheeler and Scott Street, which connects the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, the protesters occupied the square. The cops surrounded them, but they remained, absolutely fearless and unafraid of the batons, the guns, and the police-wagons. Ignoring the cops, they gave a few speeches in the intersection and shut down traffic. Then they marched to Texas Southern University, where they were met by dozens of students.

TSU is a historically African American university and was a major site of activism during the Civil Rights Movement in Houston. Therefore, it was symbolically connecting the current struggle against police brutality to the struggle of the African American people in the Black Belt South.

A student from TSU stated, “The turnout today demonstrates that Black people have had enough of the racist killer cops in this country. We are no longer afraid and we will take our community back. Their batons and guns are a tool to oppress us, and we will resist this oppression until we win the liberation of all Black people.”

#HoustonTX #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #BlackLivesMatter