Orlando marches for voting rights and police accountability on Juneteenth

Orlando, FL – On the evening of Friday, June 19, around 80 community members gathered from all over Orlando at the intersection of Anderson Street and Division Avenue. They carried signs that read “Defend voting rights” and “Justice for the victims of police crimes” as they marched toward city hall in response to Republican-led attacks on the voting rights of the Black community, as well as demanding community control of the police.

The protest was organized by Orlando Against Police Crimes (OAPC), a grassroots community organization fighting for the victims of police crimes. At the event, OAPC condemned recent attacks on voting rights by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Louisiana v. Callais case. The case made it harder to correct maps that dilute the voting rights of the Black community. It is a decision which also paved the way for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and right-wing legislators to redraw maps that undermine the political power of Black voters.

Gathered at the corner of Anderson and Division, the crowd was set to march across the Anderson Street Bridge as they made their way down to city hall. Community leader Lawanna Gelzer opened the event by talking about the significance of the location chosen. “They named this Division Avenue because it was the segregation line between Black and Caucasian people during Jim Crow. Now, Division Avenue stands for economic disparity and gentrification.”

Gelzer also spoke on the history of the Civil Rights Movement. She gave a particular focus to the historic march across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama – the site of a brutal attack on protestors perpetrated by police known as Bloody Sunday.

“This march is a reenactment of that moment. They call us radicals when all we’re asking for is to respect the voting rights we fought for and to bring back the police civilian review board they took away from us,” said Gelzer.

Protesters then marched across the Anderson Street Bridge, local activists leading chants such as “Donald Trump you racist clown, tell your courts we won’t back down!” and “Ron DeSantis shame on you, the KKK fear Black votes too!” Protesters sang ballads from the Civil Rights Movement such as We Shall Overcome and Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round.

Once the protesters arrived at Orlando City Hall, OAPC member Edmund Anglero told the crowd, “Some of you may be wondering why a group focused on police crimes organized an event around voting rights. Our right to vote is a building block upon which we amass more political power. Those rights were fought for, and earned, in blood. We must defend them with everything we have. The struggle for community control of the police is ultimately about expanding our basic democratic rights.”

Anglero also highlighted the recent murder of Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old child killed by Mississippi police in a Walmart parking lot, and called for justice and accountability.

The Orlando Singing Resistance choir and 50501 Orlando ended the event with songs and speeches while OAPC put out a call to action. They urged members of the community to join OAPC’s campaign in reinstating the Civilian Review Board and getting involved in the struggle for police accountability and community control of the police in Orlando.

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