Western Springs Protest: 'Defund The Police!'

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Mya Jackson, a recent African American graduate of Lyons Township High School, said she had an "amazing" experience at the school. But the La Grange resident told a Western Springs crowd Wednesday that she has been called the N-word and told to go back to Africa. "It really does hurt," she said.

Jackson spoke to hundreds gathered at the Tower Green for the village's first Black Lives Matter demonstration. Police from Western Springs and other towns were on hand.

During her speech, Jackson also said she had been told that "I'm one of the good ones." And she said she has been asked why "I don't talk like them." Such remarks, she said, are saddening. "Why can't we all be Americans and spread love and joy to one another?" she asked.

Grace Regan, the event's lead organizer and who just ended her sophomore year at Lyons Township, said the protest was a long time coming.

"I have the privilege of being white, and I was born in a good community," Regan said. "I know I will never understand what it's like to be living as a person of color in today's society. But I will continue to stand and do whatever I can to help."

Afterward, the young-skewing crowd kneeled or sat down on the Tower Green for nine minutes, which represented the amount of time that a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on the neck of George Floyd before he died.

Then the crowd began its 1.4-mile march from the tower to Lyons Township High School's South Campus in Western Springs. Nearly all the participants wore face masks, although most of the officers did not.

Some residents showed support from their houses as the marchers passed, cheering them on or holding signs of their own. Beth Byrne held up a sign that read, "Black Lives Matter — I Am Privileged." She apologized for not taking part in the march.

The marchers chanted, "Take it to the streets! Defund the police!" and "No justice, no peace, no racist police!" At one point, they got political: "No KKK, no racist USA, no Trump!"

The police opened up intersections for the march, with Hillgrove Avenue closed for a time. Two Western Springs officers rode bicycles in front.

The marchers ended at the school, where everyone sat in the parking lot. Regan thanked everyone for their participation.

La Grange has seen two Black Lives Matter protests, while Hinsdale has had one.