DES MOINES, Iowa — Monday, Iowans continue to gather to mourn the death of George Floyd and discuss what can happen on the local level to combat police brutality. However, organizers say this is not a protest but a call to action.
The event, Together We Can Make a Change: A Call to Action, will include speeches from community leaders including representative Ako Abdul Samad, pastor Dr. Benjamin Bell Jr., and Connie Ryan, the executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.
Organizers Charmaine Bell and April Wells said the main goal of this event is to provide local resources to community members to fight against systemic racism in the state.
Wells said they’re hoping attendees from different cultural backgrounds walk away with a better understanding of the frustration and anger they’re seeing among black Americans in their community.
“They don’t know what it’s like to be the minority, most of the time, in most situations.
They don’t know what it’s like to be the spokesperson for your entire race, in so many different incidences. And they just don’t know what it’s like to have to be, as Charmaine said, so forgiving for so many things without receiving an apology,” Wells said. “So that’s what we want to achieve with this event, this conversation.”
Together We Can Make a Change: A Call to Action will be held 6:30 p.m. at the State Capitol.