Representing NOWPBC, Arlene Ustin participated in a rally sponsored by Broward Black Lives Matter Alliance, Dream Defenders, #SayHerName, SEIU and countless others to express our grief for the recent murders of Alton Sterling in Barton Rouge; Philando Castile in St. Paul; and Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Michael Smith, and Lorne Ahrens, five officers in Dallas.

We were demanding action against police violence and systemic racism. About 80 people joined Black workers and families to show everyone how we can we unite to end racial discrimination and violence against Black people at the hands of police.

We met at Stranahan Park in downtown Ft. Lauderdale,and were accompanied by the police who stopped traffic for us as we walked through the streets over a bridge holding up our signs and chanting making our way to the Broward Jail.

Our demonstration was peaceful, emotional, and important. Never can we let the frequency of gun violence in our country’s epidemic become a ‘norm.’ Never can we forget that the numbers of deaths represent lost lives and ruined families, and each one has a name. In a post Hillary reminds us of Elie Wiesel’s wise words, “the opposite of love is not hate — it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death — it’s indifference.”

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