ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In the sixth night of protests across Tampa Bay protesters are still taking to the streets, making their voices heard as they demand change in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Over in St. Pete, protesters laid down in the street chanting some of George Floyd’s final words, ‘I can’t breathe.’ They stayed there for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time that George Floyd had a knee on his neck.
And then they were up. Marching further down 4th Street. A disruptive, but peaceful marching protest.
Across the Bay, protesters in Tampa did the same. “We made the decision maybe three days ago to head out. We missed the first protest,’ Lenir La Cour said.
La Cour and his co-workers joined the march for about three hours, “It’s a big deal. Everybody in the country knows it’s a big deal. It’s everywhere, so you can’t turn a blind eye to it.”
Erika De Jesus brought her son after he asked to march as well, “And me having black children, it’s very important that you know, they shouldn’t have to live in fear,” De Jesus said. “They should be able to walk down the street and see police just like anybody else. And they shouldn’t have to be like, ‘oh no, I’m black so they’re going to look at me funny.’"
It was this group's first time marching since the death of George Floyd, and La Cour says their work is not done, “there is still information to be spread. There are still petitions to be signed. Things to donate. There is so much more that we can do.”
Peacefully protesting for the hope of a better future.
“And what I do may not be enough,” La Cour said. “And what he does may not be enough, but together I truly believe that we can make a difference."
“An America that I dream for in the future is where he knows that he has equal rights,” De Jesus said. “So I am hoping they can live their lives, just like anybody else.”
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