As Shermane Dubose walked down Fairhope Avenue Sunday with her two teenage daughters, she talked about growing up in Alabama’s fastest growing city in mixed neighborhoods and “different environments.”
“A really nice town,” said Dubose, 35, who is black. “We haven’t had any problems.”
Indeed, Fairhope has a well-developed reputation as a city known more for flowers and festivals than for crime. But the nation’s events in the past three weeks, following the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, has left a large number of people in this picturesque Mobile Bay city “hurting,” according to one activist who helped organized a Sunday memorial procession and prayer gathering through the city.
“This is an opportunity for us to make sure we bring the community together and let everyone know that we can put down labels, put down guns and put down looting and we can pick up hope, we can pick up love and we can pick up empathy,” said Shawn Graham with Hope Community, a volunteer and diverse group of Fairhope residents who started gathering about four years ago to listen and discuss people’s issues and “spread love.”
“That’s really what our focus is and we hope this is the start of something bigger,” said Graham.
The prayer gathering at South Beach Park near the Fairhope Pier followed an approximately one-mile procession along Section Street and Fairhope Avenue. A large and diverse group of residents walked through the city chanting “No justice, no peace,” “I can’t breathe,” and “Black Lives Matter.” The purpose of the event was to memorialize Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer after kneeling on his neck for over eight minutes while other police officers stood watching. It was also focused on recognizing racial injustice and discussing a peaceful path forward.
The procession led to a gathering at the park in which multiple speakers such as Fairhope Mayor Karin Wilson and 17-year-old Ashanti Ash spoke about wanting Fairhope to become a better community.
“We can’t just depend on the Boys and Girls Club or the schools,” said Ash, who is black and was the senior class president at Fairhope High School this past year. “As a community, we have to be invested in the success of every black child, no matter the situation.”
She added, “We have to invest in Fairhope’s black community. (People should) see our values outside the touchdowns we score for you on Friday nights, our three-pointers (during a basketball game) and diverse photo ops. I don’t want to spend my life afraid of what will happen t me if someone decides my life does not matter.”
The procession and prayer gathering had been postponed twice due to weather, but Graham was impressed with the large crowd that gathered at the Fairhope Civic Center for the start of the procession. Many who walked through the city carried homemade signs with a variety of messages dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement that, according to polling in the past week, has seen a surge of support. According to the Pew Research Center, two-thirds of U.S. adults support the movement with 38% saying they strongly support it.
The Fairhope event came one day after protesters flooded the streets in Atlanta on Saturday following the death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer Friday at a Wendy’s restaurant. The restaurant was set ablaze and nearby automobiles were also set on fire. The officer who did the fatal shooting has since been fired, and the Atlanta police chief has resigned.
“I think for all of us, we are just tired of the same atrocities over and over,” said Graham. “We know it’s a challenge for police because they are coming in to do a job. We want to work together.”
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Fairhope looks to ‘pick up hope, love, empathy’ during procession memorializing George Floyd - AL.com
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