WATCH: Wilmington Community Walk For Justice On WCTV

WILMINGTON, MA — Hundreds gathered in Wilmington Thursday for a protest in honor of George Floyd and against racial injustice.

WCTV covered the event, including speeches by organizers Maggie Brown and Mike Semonelli as they spoke.

Protesters held a 8 minute and 46 second sitting moment of silence in the Common, then walked to the Police Department to knelt for another 8 minutes and 46 seconds, honoring the time George Floyd was held prone on the ground.

"All I want to do today is share the experiences that I have had as a lifelong resident of this town growing up black in America," Semonelli said. "Growing up black in a small town, I did not have a black classmate until sixth grade. I did not have a black educational mentor until the ninth grade, and I did not know a black teacher in this district until I joined that building two years ago."

Semonelli is the Wilmington Public Schools auditorium manager and directs the high school's Lamplighters Drama Guild.

Semonelli described being a token black friend as he grew up in Wilmington, being asked to speak for a community he did not know, and the racism he has continued to experience as an adult in Wilmington.

"I have so many friends that are law enforcement agents," he said. "They are not the personal problem. The problem is that they serve a system that is being used to corrupt and disassemble and destroy the black community. We cannot live in a community together until we can all live in a community together."

"We cannot all live together until every black person in this town can drive down the main street or the side streets to get home without being tailed for a mile," he said. "Being a black adult in America is knowing that Dr. King stood for peace and they shot him. It's knowing that Malcolm X stood for radicalization and they shot him too. The problem is not how we seek peace, the problem is that we're looking for it in the first place."

View Semonelli's full speech and more from the event via WCTV.

"This was an amazing first step for this community, but it cannot be our only step," Semonelli said after the protesters kneeled. "Continue to fight inequality and for representation at every level."

"Today was not enough - one event is not enough," Brown wrote following the event. "Today is only the beginning. Friends, we have a long road ahead of us. But it is a road we must travel down. You walked with us today, but remember that we must continue to walk each and every day. Again - enormous gratitude to all."

She also thanked town officials, the police department, Semonelli and others.

"George Floyd. Do not forget him. Do not forget his cries. Let’s make George Floyd the man who changed the world. Remember, not one more," Brown wrote.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.