Last Updated on August 4, 2020, 10:14 PM | Published: August 4, 2020
The first of what the Collegiate Freedom and Justice Coalition are calling “Moral Monday” kicked off it’s first action Monday starting at Kerr Park and ending at the east doors of the Oklahoma County Courthouse.
Before the march we checked in with the coalition’s president, Adriana Law about the purpose of the shift to a regular schedule of Moral Monday protests.
Moral issue
“Today, we’re focusing on how the injustices that we see in the criminal justice system aren’t just a race issue, but they’re a moral issue,” said Law.
She explained that the shift to Moral Monday was actually a shift in focus for the protests. The group is trying to expand the concept and call attention to the moral base issues of race and brutality of our system.
“No matter the color of your skin, you shouldn’t want anyone to have to go through the types of injustices that we see pretty much every race of people go through right now.”
March and rally
About 25 protesters made their march down Kerr Avenue shouting some chants that have now become a signature of the group calling for DA David Prater to resign, and chants that recall the police shootings of black people at a steady yearly pace across the U.S.
Once at the east side of the courthouse there was little threat for the Oklahoma County Deputies who had been posted to watch the doors.
The march transformed into a rally with a series of speeches from various members of the organizing coalition as well as some of the older lights of movement activism like Garland Pruitt, long-term president of the NAACP – Oklahoma City, and Mark Faulk who has been an activist for racial and economic justice causes for most of his adult life.
The presence of clergy from several traditions who spoke added a new twist to the action and no-doubt produced a very different event than law enforcement might have imagined.
Again, as with the Defeating Disparity Rally Friday night, there were no confrontations with law enforcement.
The coalition encourages all people who consider the government’s approach to race and people of color to be a moral issue are invited to meet again at Kerr Park 2:30 p.m. Monday for the next rally.
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Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
