WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange residents gathered on Northfield Avenue on July 25 for another Black Lives Matter protest, led by the West Orange African Heritage Organization. Standing on either side of the road down the street from the Turtle Back Zoo, protesters held up signs asking drivers to honk in support.
“This is our third time doing this,” WOAHO President Althia Tweiten said in an interview with the West Orange Chronicle at the event. “We want the town to really remember Black Lives Matter.”
The organization is selling Black Lives Matter signs for $15; all of the proceeds go to the scholarship fund that is awarded each year to West Orange High School students. Information about how to purchase a sign can be found online at www.woaho.org.
“We don’t want militarized police,” Akil Khalfani, a West Orange resident who is running for United States Congress in the 10th District, said at the protest. “We don’t want police who don’t respect our humanity. We need to remember that.”
Khalfani talked about signs that protesters used during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, which read “I am a man,” and likened them to the Black Lives Matter signs.
“Both are saying, ‘My humanity is not being respected,’” he said.
Photos by Amanda Valentovic
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