[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he normally quiet suburbs east of downtown LA are not your usual landmarks for activism. But cities in the San Gabriel Valley such as Alhambra, Diamond Bar, Walnut, West Covina, and more have joined the national wave of protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd.
At least 200 residents from the Rowland Heights area marched in the streets as part of the memorial “Flowers for Floyd.” last week. It was just one of dozens of protests taking place across L.A. that day.
Protesters wielded cardboard signs and flowers as they marched two miles from Gloria Heer Park to Schabarum Park. Cries for justice and “no racist police” rang on Colima, the main thoroughfare that runs through Rowland Heights and its neighboring cities. As the crowd made its trek, drivers honked their horns in support and some pumped their fists out of their car windows. Restaurant workers and residents trickled out to witness the rare sight as well.
Demonstrators chanted “Black Lives Matter” and the names of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African American EMT from Louisville, Kentucky, who was killed in her own home by police in March.