5/25 at Bronson Park: “9 Minutes of Silence” for George Floyd

It's hard to believe it's already been a year since the death of George Floyd. It was an incident that sparked outrage not only nationwide, but worldwide too. And inspired the largest civil rights movement in decades.

Now, on the anniversary of his death, a vigil of sorts is being held at Bronson Park in Kalamazoo. Named "Open Eyes Kalamazoo", the event is open to all. Here are some of the details:

• The event begins at 5:00pm
• The program beings at 5:45pm
• At 6:00pm, 9 minutes of silence will be observed in honor of George Floyd

For those who can't attend, you're encouraged to take 9 minutes of silence wherever you are. More details can be seen below:

Despite the numerous protests worldwide it seems that, should there be any change, it is slow moving. According to this article published last month by Newsweek, 118 Black people have died at the hands of police since the death of George Floyd. The numbers are tracked by a website called Mapping Police Violence which provides an interactive map detailing each incident. You can read more about their credibility and how they track their information here.

More recently, protestors took to the streets of Kalamazoo following the death of Daunte Wright, a 20 year old Black man who was fatally shot by police in Minneapolis in early April. During the protest, which was covered by WWMT News Channel 3, the event organizer known only as Ryan said that their protest wasn't just for George Floyd or Daunte Wright. He continued with,

We’re here to protest for all the Black people whose names we don’t know, for all violence done to them that wasn’t filmed, that’s why we’re here and we don’t want to be, we shouldn’t have to be.

Again, Open Eyes Kalamazoo starts tomorrow, 5/25, at Bronson Park at 5pm.