Hundreds of Temple University students and student-athletes marched in support of the Black Lives Matter movement Saturday, coinciding with other peaceful protests around the city.
Saturday’s march is the latest in a series of protests organized across the country following the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota who died after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on his neck, in May. Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder on Wednesday, the Washington Post reported.
Protesters, carrying signs and chanting loudly in support of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who died in Minnesota after being shot in her house by police, walked from the intersection of Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Broad Street to City Hall mid-afternoon.
Jeremy Jennings, a senior criminal justice major, said Saturday’s march was the first protest he’s attended. He felt an obligation to come out in support of other Black people in Philadelphia, he said.
“We’re just trying to get it shown that Black lives matter in a world where they should matter,” Jennings, who plays wide receiver for the Owls football team, said.
Around 3:30 p.m., the protesters from Temple joined with hundreds of other protesters who had congregated at City Hall earlier in the day. The large group eventually marched back up to Temple and knelt at the intersection of Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Broad Street, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Evan Boozer, a junior psychology major, said it’s been great to see the change that has been happening as a result of the protests so far.
“The only way we change is when we do it all together,” Boozer, who plays defensive tackle for the Owls football team, said. “We can’t be divided.”
Lorette Thomas, a junior neuroscience major, said she wanted to go beyond signing petitions in support of Black Lives Matter by marching.
“I really thought it was important that we come out here as athletes to try and show that we stand with what’s going on,” Thomas, who is on Temple’s cheer team, said.
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