Minneapolis demonstrators who have been camped outside a city police station for more than a week took time Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving. The meal, hosted by the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, Black Lives Matter, and the Zion Baptist Church, promoted healing in the days after the death of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by police on November 15.
About 100 people were involved in the festive holiday meal, the Star Tribune reports. The celebration, which protesters called “Blacksgiving,” saw demonstrators gathered around donated plates of turkey, pies, macaroni and cheese, tea, tents, and space heaters. Participants took time to pray for Clark and his family.
“It’s really powerful to see community solidarity on Thanksgiving,” Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds told the Star Tribune. “We are going to persevere until we see change.”
The protesters have promised to remain outside the city’s Fourth Precinct until authorities release video of the Clark shooting. State investigators have said they will not release the video until their work is complete.
The events at last Monday’s protests made the meal even more poignant. That night, five protestors were shot by a group of alleged white supremacists; police have arrested four men in connection with the violence. One of the shooting victims was shot in the stomach and remains in the hospital. At least two others have returned to the protests outside the precinct.
“It’s tough in the morning but then I get up and get walking, and it’s all good,” Wesley Martin said Thursday, after being shot in the leg at the protest’s violence earlier in the week.
Organizers say they will hold an outdoor church service outside the police precinct on Sunday morning.
(Cover image via Twitter user Andrés Benedicto)
