Chatsworth Children March For Justice

CHATSWORTH, CA — How do you possibly explain everything that’s going on right now to young children?

Hundreds of Chatsworth residents attempted to do just that on Saturday with a family-friendly march attended by at least a hundred young children.

“I have two small children, they’re seven and five, and we wanted them to be a part of the protest, but didn’t feel comfortable taking them downtown or to central Hollywood,” said Katie Dunn, the Chatsworth resident who organized the march. “So I decided Wednesday morning that I would organize something and send it out to people in the area that if they wanted a safe place where they could bring their kids, we would make it as family-friendly as possible.”

Protesters were asked to maintain strict social distancing, and not include any profanity in their signs.

Others who appeared at the event to give kid-friendly speeches on diversity, racism, and the power of peaceful protest included: Charles Greaves, a local standup comedian and Chatsworth father; Robert Graves, a Marine Corps veteran and Chatsworth father; and Sheila Robinson, an actor and LGBTQ activist.

“[Greaves] asked them to imagine they were all different color Crayons, and if they could all just work together they could make a beautiful picture,” said Dunn, who noted that Chatsworth is a diverse city, and the 300-strong crowd reflected that. Dunn said she recalled seeing signs that said “Armenians for Black Lives Matter” and “Sikhs for Black Lives Matter.”

The families gathered in front of Chatsworth Park Elementary School on the corner of Devonshire Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard on Saturday at 9 a.m. Children carried hand-made signs with quotes from Martin Luther King and wordplay like “eracism.”

Dunn’s son’s class at Germain Academy for Academic Achievement has many black students, so he held a sign saying “My friends’ lives matter.”

Dunn noted that many teachers at Chatsworth schools attended, and children were happy to see them there. Dunn has also started a Facebook group called Chatsworth Families for Justice and Equality, which includes many links to continue the conversation about racism with children.

“It’s so easy to just let it fizzle, like, ‘Oh, we did this great thing, and now we’re gonna stop talking about it,’” said Dunn. “We have to keep talking about it. Nothing’s gonna change if they don’t keep the message that anti-racism is how we change what’s going on.”

After gathering by the elementary school for a while, the group marched down Devonshire Street to Mason Park, where Robinson led the group in an eight-minute 46-second moment of silence, to remember the amount of time that Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee over George Floyd’s neck.

Dunn reported that during the walk, 10-12 California Highway Patrol cars drove by and honked in support. “I mentioned that in my [ABC] news interview and it was cut,” said Dunn. “Doesn’t support the narrative, I suppose.”