Unity and solidarity at Santa Maria NAACP rally and march Thursday
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A few hundred people gathered Thursday in Santa Maria to honor George Floyd. It follows more than a week of protests and rallies across the country.
Community leaders spoke for an hour ahead of a peaceful rally and march for George Floyd, held by the NAACP.
"I saw one of god's children being victimized on national TV," said Shelton Griffin of Santa Maria while speaking of Floyd.
Participants knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time an officer knelt on Floyd's neck. It's a stark reminder that participants hope won't be soon forgotten.
"You might get people to care about it for a hot second, but then after that they go back to their regular lives," said Tanya Jones of Santa Maria. "And we can't go back to our regular lives. Our lives are what you see."
The rally was composed of people of all different ages and backgrounds.
"There's a lot of different cultures here and ethnicities and everybody has the same feeling about what's going on, and we're all tired of it," said George Vega of Santa Maria.
"The main message is unity. We'll never win if we continue to fight each other," Gilbert Espinoza of Santa Maria. "We need to come together as a human race."
Police and organization volunteers guided protesters safely along broadway, following all traffic signals and staying on the sidewalk.
Participants said the march for justice does not end at city hall.
"Don't stay silent. Go out, support, donate, sign the petitions, anything good, anything helps," said Natalie Garcia of Santa Maria.
Representative Salud Carbajal also spoke about legislation for police reform.
