Black Lives Matter protesters march in Garfield Ridge: ‘This isn’t a place to be scared of’

Hundreds participate in a Black Lives Matter march through the Garfield Ridge neighborhood on the Southwest Side, Thursday afternoon, June 4, 2020. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Black Lives Matter activists brought their message for police reform Thursday to the heart of a Southwest Side neighborhood that’s home to thousands of Chicago police officers.

About 300 protesters rallied outside Kennedy High School, 6325 W. 56th St., before marching peacefully through Garfield Ridge, once home to Jason Van Dyke, the ex-officer now behind bars for killing Laquan McDonald.

A bastion of “white flight” dating back to the Civil Rights Movement, the neighborhood is now mostly white and Latino — and a key place to try to change attitudes in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, activists said.

“This neighborhood isn’t a place to be scared of,” marcher and Garfield Ridge resident Crystal Gonzalez said. “Black people and all people of color shouldn’t feel like, ‘Oh, that’s a part of town I can’t come by.’ This turnout is important because it shows this isn’t that type of neighborhood, and maybe we can take a small step in the right direction of more peace, more friendliness.”

Chicago police officers keep watch as Black Lives Matter protesters march through the Garfield Ridge neighborhood on the Southwest Side Thursday.

Organizer Dave Ruiz called Floyd’s death “the straw that broke my back.

“It just added to the frustration I was feeling about the fact that reforms were failing, our police departments were failing, and that voices like mine weren’t being heard,” Ruiz said. “And that our community especially didn’t have representation on the matter. That’s why we’re here.”

Edward Pledger came from Kenwood to take part. “To see again that people are willing to step up, to say something — it’s a great thing.”

The chanting crowd, mostly kept on the sidewalk by about 30 officers riding alongside on bicycles, marched for about three miles, drawing curious looks from some residents — and cheers and car honks from others.

About 300 or so in this peaceful march, westbound on 55th now from Central. pic.twitter.com/zwi3Dnn3xe

— Mitchell Armentrout (@mitchtrout) June 4, 2020

“The community was cheering us, was very supportive and very respectful, in general,” organizer Nikola Stamenkovic Diez said.

Mary Shilney joined residents from nearby Clearing who stood along 55th Street handing out cold water bottles to marchers at the tail end of the trek on a hot spring afternoon.

“Black lives do matter. I would love to hear them say ‘all lives matter.’ But they’re peaceful, and that’s what’s important,” Shilney said.

Recording video of the march as it passed her home, Leticia Lopez said her neighbors “are good people.

“There are people who can be bad in any color or race. But we can always do better,” Lopez said.

A handful of older white men held American flags as they looked on from across Archer Avenue, a busy commercial strip in the neighborhood. One who said he’s from Garfield Ridge called it “stupid to watch this ignorance,” cursed at a reporter and declined to share his name.

Men who identified themselves as Blue Lives Matter protesters stand on a corner with American flags as Black Lives Matter protesters march through Garfield Ridge Thursday.

Beyond a few profanities, the demonstration was purely peaceful — and effective, according to organizer Stamenkovic Diez.

“I think it’s going to create productive dialogue, that’s going to hopefully, pragmatically, change the future,” he said.

Another rally is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Union Park.