Eli Lubell has been attending a number of demonstrations, rallies and protests for the Black Lives Matter movement over the last couple of weeks.
On Friday, he’s hopeful a teen-organized protest he’s leading will be the biggest yet seen in East Cobb.
It starts at 1 p.m. at the corners of Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road, the site of ongoing rallies for the same purpose.
“I just wanted to create a sense of urgency and community,” said Eli, who’s 16 and attends Pope High School.
While similar rallies have drawn a few dozen people, his goal is to have a hundred or more people of all ages attend.
“It’s about visibility, about getting people in a conservative area to be more active and vocal,” Eli says.
Like many whites, Eli was prompted to action after seeing a video of a while Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, who was handcuffed on the ground and who later died.
That set off protests by Black Lives Matter and other groups around the country, as well as violence attributed largely to other elements.
“People in East Cobb aren’t always outspoken about their beliefs,” he says. “When something doesn’t affect them, they don’t think it’s their problem.”
But Eli said he learned that attending other rallies, especially in Decatur and Woodruff Park in Atlanta, how sheltered he had been from the realities faced by those in other racial and ethnic groups.
“Being a bystander is part of the problem,” he said, “but that’s starting to change.
“I don’t think I was aware. I hadn’t taken the time to educate myself.”
Eli drew some parallels to the Me Too movement, which struck a chord across the larger American society in the wake of sexual assaults and harassment by high-profile men.
He said he’s been hearing from other teens and promoting the rally via Instagram and other social media channels, but anyone of any age group is invited to attend.
Friday’s protest is expected to last two or three hours, he said, and a rally for Black Lives Matter is slated for 5-7 p.m. at the same Roswell-Johnson Ferry intersection that’s had daily protests.
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