Image taken from All of Us Facebook page.
The leaves may be turning and the nights may be getting chillier, but the fight for racial justice in the Capital Region is not dwindling. This past Friday, September 25th, a crowd gathered in Congress Park in downtown Saratoga to gear up for an organized march through the town’s streets in order to advocate for Robin Dalton’s resignation and the defunding of the SSPD (Saratoga Springs Police Department).
With the event name of “Dalton, What Side Are You On?” Friday’s protest was just one event intended to boost community mobilization in holding Robin Dalton, the public safety commissioner of Saratoga Springs, accountable. Earlier this summer, on July 30th, at a “Back the Blue” counter protest, the Saratoga Police Department, with Dalton at its head, allowed outside law enforcement and their military vehicles to threaten peaceful protesters. Since then, Dalton has been inconsistent with her rationale on this unsound use of force. Just recently, at a recent SSPD Task Force Meeting, she claimed that she has no ownership of the events that happened on July 30th. Due to this, All of Us organized Friday’s protest to spread the message that Saratoga should not put their trust in a leader that takes no legitimate and concrete action towards community safety.
In the wake of the abysmal Kentucky court ruling in Breonna Taylor’s murder case last week, emotions were raw on Friday evening.
Last Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced the grand jury’s decision that Brett Hankison, one of the three police officers involved in the murder of the emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor, had been charged with only wanton endangerment. This charge is not in relation to his involvement in Ms. Taylor’s death, but rather regarding shots he fired into the neighboring apartment. The other two officers, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, have still not been charged on any counts.
Many activists had been calling for all three officers – who are all white – to be charged with manslaughter, so the Kentucky court’s ruling was extremely disheartening.
Like the vigil for Darryl Mount a couple weeks ago, Friday’s protest was organized by All of Us, a racial justice activist group that focuses their community efforts within the Capital Region. On their Facebook page, All of Us shares that their purpose is rooted in “uniting people through community events, actions, education and mobilization with the ultimate goal of ensuring equitable prioritization of issues and allocation of resources for communities with the greatest need.”
Jamaica Miles, one of the co-founders at All of Us, opened the event once a crowd of a couple hundred, including a considerable number of Skidmore students, had formed at Congress Park. She expressed her immense disappointment in the recent Breonna Taylor ruling, along with the persisting lack of justice in regards to the reopening of the case of Darryl Mount’s murder at the hands of the SSPD. She went on to stress that the crowd’s prevailing purpose was to make their voices heard – it was time to show up and be loud. But, Miles also wanted to make it clear that the protest’s actions came from a place of unity, as she declared, “We don’t do this out of hate, but we do it out of love.”
The mic was then passed to Lexis Figuereo, co-founder of All of Us. Following suit with Miles, Figuereo spoke of his anger in regards to local law enforcement not being held accountable for their biased actions. He recognized that despite Cuomo’s repealing of 50-A this summer, which had historically allowed law enforcement to shield police misconduct records from the public, there continues to be hidden wrongdoings that the public eye does not see.
Figuereo then motioned for his sister, Chandler Hickenbottom, to take the megaphone. She addressed the crowd by saying, “As a Black woman, I am broken. The past few days have been a slap in the face.” These words hung heavy in the air as Hickenbottom talked about the countless names of Black men and women that have been lost recently, and historically, at the hands of the police that are simultaneously claiming to keep everyone safe.
With the opening words of the All of Us leaders in mind, the crowd set off on their march towards the Saratoga Springs police department, reciting familiar chants, such as “How do you spell murderer? SSPD!,” “Show me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like,” and “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, f*** 12.” Protestors marched down the middle of Putnam street towards the City Hall chanting these sayings.
The crowd then spilled onto the intersection of Broadway and Lake Avenue, taking a knee in the middle of the road. Although this caused a disruption in traffic, there were police officers stationed around the crowd that redirected cars when needed. The protest dwelled at the intersection for around a half hour, with the leaders of All of Us continuing to lead chants as well as share stories, personal and public, of systemic police brutality and unjust law rulings against Black individuals in the community.
The protest advanced from Broadway towards Division St, then looped back towards Congress Park. The crowd eased between traffic as they transgressed through Saratoga. At some points, there was even dancing that coincided with the ringing chants of the crowd. It should be noted that on their Facebook page, the Saratoga Springs Police Department issued a statement that affirmed that there were no negative actions between law enforcement and the protesters on Friday night – the event remained peaceful.
Back at Congress Park, there were more speeches from activists and leaders that particularly highlighted the importance of acknowledging Indigenous land. There were also words directed towards Black and Brown attendees concerning the significance of preserving and protecting their own mental health.
The event was closed with the understanding that there was still work to be done; Robin Dalton has still left many questions unanswered and the SSPD is still accumulating funds that could be redirected towards the search for a permanent location for Saratoga’s homeless shelter. As we push into the colder months, there is no sign that All of Us plans on slowing down their activism and community events.