Naperville ‘hoodie march’ protests violence, racism
A violent event in Florida and an uncomfortable encounter in a Naperville-area grocery store sparked a “hoodie march” Saturday protesting violence and racism — two problems march organizers say are sadly universal.
About 150 people — almost all of them wearing hooded sweatshirts — marched through downtown Naperville Saturday afternoon carrying signs reading “justice is a matter of right and wrong, not white and black,” or “peace and justice for Trayvon and his family.”
Organized by 34-year-old Kelly Ingram of Naperville, the event protested the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot by a neighborhood watch captain, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, in late February in Florida.
The march was personal for Ingram, a white woman married to a black man, who said she wants to take a stand against the racism she sometimes feels while with her husband, Derjuan, and 11-year-old son, Donovan.
Ingram said she felt compelled to act citing a recent grocery store encounter where an older woman “looked at my son like he was dirty and disgusting, like he’s from another planet.”
“We’re walking for Trayvon — for justice for Trayvon and everyone that’s been a victim of violence,” she said.
Ingram’s vision helped bring a faraway controversy home to the suburbs, said Mario Lambert, president of the DuPage County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
“This vision is about a group of diverse individuals coming together to make voices heard and take a stand against the violence that happens nationally and locally,” Lambert said.
Ingram and Lambert spoke about the importance of uniting to oppose racism and violence before heading east on Jackson Avenue from Centennial Beach.
The march itself was quiet.
“Silence is bigger than walking down the street chanting something,” Ingram said. “We have signs; people know what it’s about.”
Martin’s shooting has captured national attention with even President Barack Obama weighing in, while Florida prosecutors try to determine whether to charge Zimmerman with a crime, or if his actions are protected by that state’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
Zimmerman has said he acted in self-defense.
“When we first learned about the case and realized no one was being arrested, it really bothered me,” said Joe Pounds of Bolingbrook, a black man who attended the march with his girlfriend, Samantha Krawczykowski, a white woman from Chicago. “We’re here to speak out and make our presence known, even from the suburbs, that we want justice.”
Ingram’s husband Derjuan said Martin’s killing “really took us by the heart,” leading his wife to organize the march.
Lambert encouraged the crowd to contact him or Ingram through Facebook and to continue organizing against racism and violence.
“We can march all we want. We can talk all we want,” Lambert said. “But if we don’t stay involved, this is just an event.”