A young boy unable to attend an official Black Lives Matter march in his busy hometown staged his own demonstration - complete with chalk pavement drawings and a hand-made sign.
Aiden Kelley, nine, said he "wanted to support like everyone and make sure everybody feels happy because there's been a couple of crazy things happening over the past few days."
A viral photograph shows the youngster marching on the pavement outside his home holding a protest sign.
The woman who snapped the image, apparently a neighbour, posted it with the words: “My neighbor’s kid lone BLM protest.”
My neighbor’s kid lone BLM protest. pic.twitter.com/Nc9Le6jZ9H
— Petite Avocate-o \uD83E\uDD51 (@GingerSnapEsq) June 6, 2020
Aiden told ABC 7 news that he wanted to be part of the movement he'd heard about and seen on TV and he wanted to encourage his community to get involved.
He said: "I didn't want to just be out here with a crowd staring at me holding my sign. I mean, I thought it would be better to just stand here and have people come and then ask them if they want to draw and write something."
Kelley also covered the pavement in colourful chalk messages of hope and set up a whiteboard sign with the message: “Write or draw inside one of the hearts, hands, or flowers to add to the heart day spirit. Let's be kind and inspire.”
This kid was recruiting people to participate and the outcome was great pic.twitter.com/5UOcLbAt5c
— Katya Kelley (@KatarinaspKatya) June 7, 2020
At least one neighbour joined in, writing the words 'choose love' inside a heart.
"I just want everybody to be treated nicely and not anybody being treated differently," he told local media.
Kelley said this project is about sharing love, understanding and simply being nice, adding: "There aren't just two races, there is only one race - the human race."
