In less than half an hour, and with very little advance notice, the Guam protesters had swelled to nearly a hundred, drawing people to a peaceful gathering in solidarity with the protests in the U.S. mainland sparked by the death of an African American man, George Floyd, 46, by the hands of Minneapolis police officers on May 25.
The protesters gathered at the ITC Intersection in Tamuning, in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement Monday afternoon while numerous drivers honked their vehicles in support.
“You don’t have to be black to care,” Keilani Reyes said.
Tamuning resident Parise Owens holds up a sign at the Black Lives Matter gathering at the ITC intersection on Monday afternoon.
Reyes, one of the organizers for the protest, wore a mask that read, “I can’t breathe” — the final words spoken by Floyd, before he died.
Reyes encouraged the public to join and “get up and stand up” for the lives of everyone across the nation.
“I was not expecting this to be this big, I thought it was just going to be a couple of people, I am overwhelmed of how much support that we are showing for the black community,” she said.
She is hoping to see an even larger group at the next protest to be held on Friday at 3-5 p.m. at the Chief Quipuha statue in Hagåtña.
Christian Quichocho held a sign that read, “You don’t have to be black to be outraged.”
Quichocho, visiting home on Guam from a college in New York, said he had witnessed first-hand the injustices of law enforcement toward his friends who are African Americans.
About 100 people gathered at the ITC intersection on Monday afternoon to protest the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day. Photos by Norman M. Taruc/The Guam Daily Post
Quichocho showed up to the protest in support of his friends who faced discrimination from law enforcement in New York and Virginia.
“We’ve gone to parties…they would be singled out automatically on the street,” he said. “It just felt so unjust and I felt so far away from them and what they’re going through right now.”
“It just feels great to see that people out here can feel their pain from so far away and here we are,” he said. “The numbers I feel are just going to get stronger here, because Guam, we’re a very loving island, and we love all.”
Bianca Cloud caught wind of the flier an hour before the event had started, rushed over with her children to join the peaceful protest.
“We want to make sure that we’re doing our part,” she said.
Cloud held up a sign that read, “We got your back.”
“We legitimately want to see change,” she said. “Change needs to happen now.”
“As people who are indigenous, we understand what it feels like to be oppressed, but we also understand, that we will never understand the problems that black people go through,” Artemia Perez said.
Perez came with a group that held banana leaves inscribed with messages that read, “Justice” and “We stand together.”
“I feel like the best thing to do is just to get educated and try your best to get your family talking about issues like this, come out and show your support when you can,” she said.
“It’s about understanding that black people in America have been oppressed for so many years, and it’s enough,” Annie Camacho said.
As people who live thousands of miles away, Camacho said, it doesn’t mean it’s not affecting us.
“It’s about the whole system that’s racially prejudiced, that’s killing black people and we have to support what’s going on with all the efforts down there,” she said.
