SARASOTA, Fla. — The rolling protest in Florida called "Stay Woke, Vote" continued its tour with a stop in Sarasota after a visit to Tampa. Sarasota is among 15 cities where the rolling protest is slated to stop for community rallies.
More than 100 residents gathered at a rally at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Newtown to welcome the tour bus which was filled with the team of traveling protesters.
They said the arrival of the bus was the sound of good trouble rolling into town.
"The message is important, and it needs to be shared with everybody, that 'Stay Woke,' Florida," Tameka Howard, a teacher who is from Sarasota, said. "If you are not standing for something you'll fall for anything."
Organizers from the NAACP and the Transformative Justice Coalition said the rolling rallies are in response to new laws passed in Tallahassee including those targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, reproductive rights and gender-affirming care amongst other issues.
"It's not freedom, it's the opposite of freedom," Mark Schreiber, a Sarasota resident said. "Taking away rights from people, how is that freedom."
While some may view it as a direct dig at the "Stop Woke" movement championed by Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, organizers of the community rally say just like with the civil rights movement, the purpose of such rallies is much bigger.
"To make sure that our communities are well aware of the policies and procedures that are being put into law, and into place that impact marginalized communities," Trevor Harvey, President of the NAACP Sarasota County chapter, said.
Several local elected officials were also in attendance to support the vision of the rally.
"We have to stay engaged and be the voice," Sarasota Mayor Kyle Batte said.
"That's the only way that we show power, that's the only way that we show strength."
Demonstrators who rallied in Sarasota urged people to register and turn out to vote in the 2024 presidential election.
"Being here, being with people, seeing that there are in fact people that are like-minded—that is really important for one's mental state but also to start getting off more," Christopher Naese from Sarasota said.
The Sarasota stop is the seventh in what the organizers, riders, and the demonstrators they meet, hope is a transformative tour of Florida.
"It's very important that we understand that we do have rights and have to make sure that those rights are protected," Howard said.
The NAACP, Equality Florida along with the League of United Latin American Citizens have also issued travel advisories for Florida over some of the new laws.
The bus has made stops in Fort Myers, Miami, Tallahassee, Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando.
Local organizations who participated in the rally also included the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County, Suncoast Women of Action, Support Our Schools, Bethlehem Baptist Church and Sarasota NAACP Youth Council.
The groups plan to continue registering voters, something they say critical effort in the community is needed to achieve the required goals of impacting grassroots-level governance and policies.