Group holds discussion about racial issues
JACKSON, Tenn. — A community rallied together for black and brown lives.
A group met on the steps of a local school for a discussion like many happening across the country.
“Everybody is obviously welcome, but we definitely want to see our black and brown citizens of Jackson come out so we can unify and really discuss the issues plaguing our communities,” said JUST America Vice President Ahmed Toure.
“Now is the time. We must enact action to actually create change,” said JUST America Co-President Eric Brown.
Leaders with the group JUST America — a group from Austin — held a rally at South Side High School, where a few from around the community joined in.
Organizers say Brown has a family member in West Tennessee, which is what brought them here. The group discussed several issues minorities face.
“It seems like the people over here really want to see something happen, but they just might not know exactly how,” Toure said.
The main topic was issues in education, especially in schools with a higher population of black students.
“I would say that the problem doesn’t lie in the education necessarily, but in the funding, so that they can have a better education,” said attendee Cathy Robinson.
They also discussed how to get younger people involved in the community.
Brown said there are a lot of discussions about the black community in bigger cities like Atlanta and Chicago, but not in smaller cities like Jackson.
“Where you have 10,000 African-Americans who felt like they’ve never been represented in their communities,” he said.
Organizers say they plan to have another group discussion soon.
