Meet Turlock Black Lives Matter organizers: Protesters discuss racism, police reform
Two weeks ago, two Turlock residents founded a local Black Lives Matter movement with a mission: to call attention to systemic racism and nationwide police brutality.
Since then, Jaimee Ellison and Elisha Coleman have shared their vision for community change with hundreds of protesters, city council members, U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, and the Modesto/Stanislaus NAACP.
They don’t plan to stop when mass protests end. The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody spurred their movement, but the co-founders said years of hearing lives lost to police violence and experiencing microaggressions fuel their activism. Coleman, who has lived all 21 years of his life in Turlock, noted how a cashier scrutinized his every move and how people cross to the other side of the path along Canal Drive when he jogs by in the evening.
“There’s racism rooted so deep here that people don’t even realize it,” said Ellison, 23. “It’s going to take time to unravel that and undo that. It kind of has to start with having uncomfortable dialogue and bringing this information into the (Central) Valley.”
Emphasis on reform, civic engagement in Turlock
Empowering young black people and people of color to learn about and get involved in local government is one goal, Ellison said. Calling for more representation of young minorities on the Turlock City Council, she said engaged citizens can help elect unifying officials.
Brittaney Castner, another organizer with Turlock Black Lives Matter, said she wants the movement to bring about police reform, including recommendations in the #8CantWait initiative. Multiple callers at the last City Council meeting urged representatives to consider the national campaign, which proposes policies such as de-escalation training and banning officers from shooting at moving vehicles.
When she was a child, Castner said, her mother explained to her that police might hurt her because of the color of her skin. Castner, now 23 and a soon-to-be schoolteacher, said her mother went over how to not make law enforcement feel threatened and ensure she returned home safely.
“I don’t want to have to regurgitate that same speech my mother gave me to my kids or my students on how to interact with a cop, on how to protect yourself,” Castner said. “I want this to end here.”
While the organization has yet to start a member application process, Castner said its Facebook page — which has garnered 1,200 likes — has received dozens of messages of support. Turlock Police Chief Nino Amirfar also praised the group after its vigil drew 500 people last week, but Coleman said rumors about it have circulated, too. The local movement does not condone violence, Coleman said, nor destruction of property.
“We are a peaceful organization,” Coleman said. “There’s been a lot of talk on social media associating us with looting and rioting. That’s not us, that’s not what this movement is about.”
In fact, the organizers even reached out to businesses owners whose downtown Modesto stores were damaged after a May 31 march. Tom Slater, owner of Slater’s Home Furnishing, said Ellison and Coleman personally visited two days later to offer to pay for his shattered window through a fundraiser.
But Slater said he asked them to keep the money for their cause, which he supports. “It made me feel a lot better about humanity when they came in here,” Slater said.
Building a bridge between generations in Stanislaus County
Wendy Byrd, president of the Modesto/Stanislaus NAACP, said she is impressed by the leadership Ellison and Coleman have shown. They plan to collaborate in the future on voter registration drives, special events and training for grass roots organizing and political development, Byrd said.
Members of the local NAACP tend to be older adults, Byrd said, but she emphasized the need to connect multiple generations of activists. Listening and supporting young organizers is vital, Byrd said, and she pointed out how Ellison and Coleman are around the same age as leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
“We have to involve young people in trying to build a better future and we have to provide a platform for young people to let their voices be heard,” said Byrd, 65.
When it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement in particular, Byrd said the killing of George Floyd has sparked a different level of interest within Stanislaus County, which has a black population of about 3.5%, according to U.S. Census data. In the seven years since the movement started, she heard of ideas to form a local organized group, but they didn’t materialize the way organizations in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area did.
Protesters bring vision to elected officials
Ellison and Coleman, along with other youth activists, discussed racial justice issues with Harder in person on June 8 at Doc’s Q’In Pit Shop, a black-owned business in Modesto. Byrd facilitated the discussion between Harder and representatives, including those from black student unions, Actions over Hashtags and Project Uplift, said Ian Lee, a spokesman for Harder’s office.
In an emailed statement to The Bee, Harder said the young leaders of the Turlock Black Lives Matter movement are pushing conversations about racism forward.
“I wasn’t able to make it to the event in Turlock, but I did join the vigil in Modesto and it’s clear that people are really hearing their concerns,” Harder said in the statement. “Washington is also finally listening – you’ve got people from both sides of the aisle talking about passing the first comprehensive policing reform bill ever. I’m part of those conversations and I’m confident we will be able to make necessary and long-overdue changes.”
At the local level, Turlock City Councilors Andrew Nosrati, Gil Esquer and Nicole Larson all attended the vigil that ended in front of Turlock City Hall last week. Nosrati in particular has been supportive of the movement, Coleman said.
As for Mayor Amy Bublak, Castner on Friday said that Bublak told her she’s willing to talk with her directly.
