Chattanooga protested for the seventh day in a row on Saturday as the mostly-peaceful protest was marred by the vandalism of several streetlights. This occurred after the main protest was finished and the leaders had gone home for the night.
“I see freedom fighters of all kinds ready to endure a tough, tough battle,” said Cameron Williams. “But it saddens me because we are fighting the fight of our grandparents and our great-grandparents and so on and so forth.
We are still fighting a 401-year-old battle, but I believe that we will win. I know that we will win.”
As has often been the case, Marie Mott was one of the leaders of the movement and took the microphone several times before and after the march around downtown Chattanooga. She told the crowd one of the main points of the protests is to raise awareness of the importance of voting.
“Hamilton County has absolutely terrible turnout when it comes to voting, and that’s going to determine if your voice is going to be heard,” said Ms. Mott. “It also determines the character of person who will be representing you. We want people to get engaged civically, because voting is a foundation to be engaged.”
She then went through what the plan was for the night. As they have done for the last few nights, the crowd marched through the streets of downtown Chattanooga, from Miller Park to the West Side back to Miller Park.
“The plan tonight is to just continue to fellowship with one another, and to put out to the public the kinds of demands we want publicly,” said Ms. Mott, “and then from there we are going to march in solidarity and let them see and hear us and know that it’s been a week and that we’re still in the fight.”
Among the protesters was Linda Tompkins, who has been protesting for civil rights during the movement’s heyday of the 1960s. She recounted stories of sit-ins in Chattanooga and protests in a segregated city. For her, the lack of progress over the last 60 years is disappointing.
“It’s very discouraging, but I remember a quote that says “My feet are tired, but my soul is rested.” I will keep on doing this as long as I have breath,” said Ms. Tompkins. “This is ridiculous and there has to be change. Enough is enough, and the time is now. No, the time has been long overdue, and we shall stand until there is nothing else to do.”
After the five-mile march around the city, from the Walnut Street Bridge to Northshore and back through the West Side, the group of hundreds met back up in Miller Park. Mr. Williams and the rest of the leaders then left, essentially ending the rally.
The real ending was messy and complicated though. Throughout the march, a man was damaging light poles around Chattanooga, and his arrest led to a brief standoff between a few protesters and police. However, once a few arrests were made, the police pulled off and left the crowd to their own devices.
Within the crowd there were a few rowdy participants who tried to rile up the protesters. For the most part, these people were ignored.