MADISON, Wis. – A group of roughly 150, comprised of UW-Madison students and other community activists, marched on the Wisconsin State Capitol Sunday afternoon.
“There needs to be a united front,” said organizer Tarah Stangler. “Because we’re all battling the same thing, which is the institutions and existence of White supremacy.”
Stangler says in recent days, multiple members of UW-Madison’s BIPOC Coalition traveled to Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, where they were detained and eventually arrested.
While Brooklyn Center and police shootings elsewhere in the United States were on the minds of protestors Sunday, so was the message of unity for young activists in the Madison area.
“The idea behind this was to have one huge rally where everyone could come together and not only have an opportunity to walk hand in hand,” Stangler said. “A chance to talk about the issues that we’re each facing, but also to have a community space where we can process the trauma that’s been happening.”
“It stems a lot from the murder and shooting of Daunte Wright in Minnesota,” said organizer Josh Mitchell, also with UW-Madison’s BIPOC Coalition. “We really want to bridge the gap with the UW Madison Campus with the community….Simple things like that, taking small steps to make big change in the end, that’s what we’re really trying to do. That’s what’s really going to make that actual change.”
Once the group reached the capitol, speakers addressed the crowd on a variety of topics while those in attendance enjoyed a community cookout.
