ATLANTA — It’s a national outcry, one that organizers also say it’s a call for action.
On Monday, people across the country, including here in Atlanta, gathered for the National Day of Outrage. Organizers say they are fed up with African-American men and women losing their lives during encounters with law enforcement.
The Georgia state capitol was the backdrop for the rally here, against what activist Marcus Coleman says has been an ongoing problem.
11Alive's Nick Sturdivant spoke with the lead organizer from group Save Our Selves, Sunday.
"You can sit back on your behind and say, 'what makes this rally different?' Or you can notice the aggressive and the egregious behavior, and then think what the hell can we do to not just curb this, but to stop it," Coleman said.
The problem, Coleman said, is the interaction between African Americans and law enforcement … and the lack of justice served.
The Monday evening rally simultaneously coincided with similar ones in 28 cities. Activists gathered wearing all black for the national day.
Tamika Mallory, who heads up Until Freedom, led this charge across the country on the 28th day of October in 28 cities representing 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson, the Fort Worth, Texas woman who was shot through a window and killed by a police officer while in her home earlier this month.
But Coleman said he can point to several other cases from right in Atlanta's backyard.
"A number of families have been affected right here in Georgia. We got the family of Kendrick Johnson. His mother is coming up from Valdosta. Jamarion Robinson, Nicholas Thomas, Jimmy Atchison," Coleman listed. "We felt like being in the capitol of Georgia. Being in the city of Atlanta, as far as what that means, as far as the birth place of the civil rights movement."
Earlier this month, Coleman stood beside Kendrick Johnson’s family and supporters at a news conference demanding that Johnson’s federal case be reopened.
Coleman along with family representatives have made corruption claims towards the FBI, Department of Justice and other branches of government.
"The actions of the Federal Government concerning aforementioned meeting were unethical, and we believe the investigation was closed under suspicious circumstances fueled by pressure of retired FBI agents," Coleman claimed at the news conference.
Recently, Atlanta-based rapper T.I. offered his support for National Day of Outrage.
"It’s so much going on. We all got to do our part," he said in a Hot 97 interview.
The nationwide rally is a tribute to black men and women, but here at home, Coleman hopes this can spark political change.
"Recently, California passed a state legislation as it deals with the usage of deadly force … we will be calling for an adoption of that legislation here in Georgia," he said. "The takeaway is that these black lives are dying at a very rapid rate."
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