Activists to Block Traffic in Fort Lauderdale to Honor Victims of Charleston Shooting

Nine black churchgoers were murdered during their Wednesday night bible study in Charleston, leaving the nation grappling over racist violence. In the immediate aftermath, vigils and rallies to commemorate their lives began sprouting up across the country: in D.C., the Bay Area, and Tallahassee. On Tuesday, there will be a...

By Jess Swanson

June 22, 2015

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Nine black churchgoers were murdered during their Wednesday-night Bible study in Charleston, leaving the nation grappling over racist violence. In the immediate aftermath, vigils and rallies to commemorate their lives began sprouting up across the country: in D.C., the Bay Area, and Tallahassee. On Tuesday, there will be a similar event in Fort Lauderdale.

“South Florida needs to respond,” local activist Cassia Laham tells New Times. She's part of the People's Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (or POWIR), an antiwar group that organizes in South Florida. “It’s last minute, but it’s a necessary reaction to something, to racism and racist violence. It’s important to have South Florida join this bigger movement.”

Social-justice activists are gathering at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday at 6 p.m. “The area is a historically black community, and we wanted to have it here, in a community that unfortunately has experienced this,” Laham says.

At 6 p.m., there will be a vigil to remember each of the nine Charleston victims. They plan to block traffic on Sistrunk Boulevard for nine minutes. If that isn’t possible, demonstrators will hold nine minutes of silence. It is expected that members of local churches will speak too. “We all want to commemorate the victims in some way,” Laham points out.

Afterward, there will be a rally and possibly a march. (Details are still being worked out among several participating activist groups.) There will definitely be sign-waving and chants. Anyone who opposes racism and what happened in Charleston is invited to attend.

“This is definitely a moment for unity,” Laham explains. “It shows what side you are on: Do you support communities of color, or do you stand in the way?”

The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center is located 2650 W. Sistrunk Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Those looking to attend can follow the event on Facebook.

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Jess Swanson is a staff writer at New Times. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami’s School of Communication and wrote briefly for the student newspaper until realizing her true calling: pissing off fraternity brothers by reporting about their parties on her crime blog. Especially gifted in jumping rope and solving Rubik’s cubes, she also holds the title for longest stint as an unpaid intern in New Times history. She left the Magic City for New York to earn her master’s degree from Columbia University School of Journalism, where she spent a year profiling circumcised men who were trying to regrow their foreskins for a story that ultimately won the John Horgan Award for Critical Science Journalism. Terrified by pizza rats and arctic temperatures, she quickly returned to her natural habitat.

Contact: Jess Swanson

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