Rozalyn Wingate, a senior from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, and Diamond Roberts, a junior at Henry Clay, organized the event “We Move.” The event encouraged people to create change by taking action.
Wingate said they organized the march in response to the shootings by police of two black men, Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile, 32, of St. Paul, Minn.
The crowd grew as the march reached Courthouse Square downtown.
“I’m still surprised,” said Roberts, who had doubted that she and Wingate would be able to pull off the event.
Several people addressed the crowd.
One man spoke about a campaign to bring justice for Gynnya McMillen, 16, who was found dead in her room at a state juvenile detention center in Hardin County on Jan. 11. (Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary John Tilley said McMillen died from “sudden cardiac arrhythmia,” according to the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting.)
Several spoke out against police brutality and gun violence as well.
Wingate, who started planning the march about two weeks ago, said she considered the event a success.
“I think it really moved the crowd … it put people in a place of realizing what’s going on in the world,” she said.
Andrew Henderson 