William Beavers' Reflection on the 4/17 NAACP Bergen County Rally in Front of Bergen County Justice Center
Bergen County NAACP Chapter logo. Photo courtesy of Twitter. On Saturday, April 17, I attended a rally hosted by the NAACP Bergen County chapter. Numerous political figures, clergy, and students told statistics and personal stories about how people of color have been robbed of their humanity by brutal police and corrupt law figures for hundreds of years. They also encouraged me to go to City Council and make my voice heard about these issues. My mom, Reverend Valerie Johnson, sang "What's Going On? by Marvin Gaye with Mr. Reginald Pittman playing trumpet in the background. She talked about her being the daughter of black parents, a proud black mother, grandmother, teacher, and minister, and that cops need to stop killing her-our- people. Robin Gwack talked about people of Latino, Asian, and other races being killed or being attacked just for being themselves. Keilan and Wini Scott couldn't grieve the loss of Wini's brother in peace because 5 cops burst through the ...