Tinley Park Peaceful Protest

Of all the cities and neighborhoods in the world, it was Tinley Park that had one of THE FIRST peaceful protestS to honor George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. No incidents of violence or destruction occurred amid heavy police presence.

Photos and Video Captured by Dean Jacson From The Protest George Floyd Protest In Tinley Park

The featured image of this post above contains some of the photos and videos that I stumbled upon yesterday online, that capture so well the peaceful and noble manner of the protestors. But the best piece of media I found is a drone video taken by a local personal trainer named Dean Jackson.

Definitely follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Here’s the link to his YouTube channel too.

While I wasn’t able to attend the protest, I followed it on social media and shared all the posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram I saw with updates, photos, and video from the protest to help bring awareness. I was suprised that I was one of the first people to share about the protest. But then again, it is true that Tinley Park is not a major city like Chicago, LA, and New York, so the media does tend to overlook what happens in local neighborhood. But the new way to get the media’s attention is by tagging them on social media and sharing the posts of others. And so I did that, in addition to providing links to apps and resources to directories of black owned businesses for people to support black owned businesses on Blackout Tuesday and beyond that date.

Fringe Anti-Protestors

Unfortunately disrespectful behavior was witnessed at the protest from a number of men on the opposite side of the street behind the police yelling obscene and racist things, and catcalling. But the protestors didn’t lash back. These protestors were different I think. They were comprised of mostly younger people, like from my generation (Generation Y (a.k.a Millennials) and younger. But age isn’t a definitive indicator of whether or not someone will be a peaceful protestor. I don’t know the backgrounds of everyone who participated in the protest; I don’t their life experiences; but I do know that they all share one thing that is in all of their hearts and minds. I think Dean Jackson said it best:

George Floyd Protest Duration

The protest took place from 4pm until about 5:30pm along Oak Park avenue in downtown Tinley. Around 150 people were in attendance. The protest included mostly chants.

Future Protests In Illinois And Around The World

I learned about a Facebook group called Southwest Suburbs Activists and that is one of the ways people down here in the south Chicago suburbs are learning about future protests. The next march protest down here is slated for tomorrow in New Lenox.

• List of George Floyd Protests Around The World

• List of George Floyd Protests In Illinois

Do Peaceful Protests Have A Chance?

No one knows when the protests in response to George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement will end, but if yesterday’s protest in Tinley Park is an indication, we hopefully will no longer see the looting, rioting, violence, and destruction from previous protests. Let us hope Tinley Park’s protest get’s more coverage and in so doing inspires other protests to be as peaceful and even more impactful on the future.