Shepard Students Shout Down Heckler In ‘Say Their Names’ Protest

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — About a hundred students from Alan B. Shepard High School gathered Thursday afternoon for a “Say Their Names” march down Ridgeland Avenue in a show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The march was organized by three Shepard graduates who spent half their school year learning virtually and in quarantine. Lavonte Morrow went to last week’s protest at Oak Lawn Community High School with his friends Alyssa Bell and Nancy Nguwen.

“We are the future of America, so we’re having these protests because this will be our country in a few years, and we have to fight for what we believe in,” Morrow said.

Morrow found the video of George Floyd begging for a breath of air before dying on a Minneapolis street while in police custody “gut wrenching,” and said it took him a few days to process.

“I just didn’t expect this with coronavirus,” he said. “Everything was happening all at once. It was this big snowball of things.”

As an African-American, Morrow said he’s never had any run-ins with police.

“I’m very privileged in a sense because I grew up in white suburbia, but there are times when you go into a store or walk down the street when you do feel the eyes on you,” Morrow said. “That’s why I’ve encountered.”

Cook County Sheriff’s Police closed off Ridgeland Avenue down to 127th Street. Students kept their cool when a man standing on the sidewalk began shouting, “my life matters,” “I support the police,” and “he was a crackhead,” referring to George Floyd, who had a history of drug arrests.

“You’re disgusting. I'm protesting you,” the man yelled, until the students downed him out by chanting, “Black Lives Matter.” A flock of white birds then swooped over the students.

After the march, principal Dr. Greg Walder said he was nervous about what could happen, but his students came through.

“They wanted a peaceful protest that did not disrupt the community and they did it perfectly,” Walder said. “They kept their cool and walked by [the heckler].”

(WARNING: Profanity)

Video by Lorraine Swanson/Patch