Peaceful anti-racism rally draws about 500 people to O'Hara park

The Fox Chapel Area School District needs to equip students for a post-George Floyd world, one that is evolving and answering cries for change, recent district graduate William Generett III told a crowd of protesters on Thursday night.

“It’s not OK to talk about Martin Luther King Jr. and call it a day,” said Generett, who co-founded the high school’s Black Student Union. “You are doing a huge disservice to students by sending them into the world with that.”

Generett, who will study pre-med at Morehouse College in Atlanta this fall, spoke to a crowd of about 500 people who converged on Squaw Valley Park in O’Hara for a peaceful rally to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

He noted that during his four years in high school, he had only one black teacher.

“Please pay attention, school board,” he said. “It helps young people to see a black professional in the building.”

The park along Fox Chapel Road was the perfect backdrop for the family-friendly event where organizers spoke of hope, unity and perseverance.

Temperatures hovered in the mid-60s and people sprawled across the green lawn while Bob Marley’s “One Love” filled the air.

But then came a call to action, and it was dire.

“I’m tired and I’m only 17,” said Warner Macklin, a 2020 graduate of Fox Chapel Area who will study finance at Howard University. “I’m tired of worrying every time I get into my car to drive somewhere. I’m tired of worrying for my family and friends.

“I’ve never understood why my skin makes a difference. I want to lead a life of love.”

Hosted by members of the Facebook group “Fox Chapel Area Residents for Social Justice,” the event was co-MC’ed by Sharpsburg Mayor Matt Rudzki and Sharpsburg resident Kayla Portis.

Portis, 35, spoke openly about the racism she experienced nearly two decades ago at Fox Chapel Area.

“While I’ve had a lot of positive experiences, I was also called out for my hair texture or hairstyle and made to feel ‘lesser-than,’” she said. “Seventeen years later and it feels like nothing has changed.”

Across the lawn, people wore masks and practiced social distancing but voiced their support through handmade posters and T-shirts with messages like “Silence is compliance.”

Hannah Gordon, 18, wore a shirt that simply read, “VOTE.”

Gordon said she attended the rally because change can’t wait.

Nearby, organizers manned a voter registration table and educated people on social reform measures.

Macklin pleaded for action.

“Can we please call out racism? Write new bills? Can we pursue new laws?” he asked. “This is for our future. This is for our kids.”

Keynote speaker Bishop Loran Mann, a Westinghouse graduate and Fox Chapel resident, told participants that growing up in the 1950s he experienced racism at its worst.

“It drove my father from the South and when we got to Pittsburgh, it was here to confront us,” he said. “It never goes away.”

Still, Mann said he believes the death of George Floyd has moved the world. He encouraged people to recognize the significance of the moment.

“If we miss the moment, we miss the opportunity for change,” he said. “If you don’t commit to getting involved, nothing happens.”

He asked the crowd to paint a picture of hope and said change would require everyone to be all in.

“White, black, rich, poor, good-looking and ugly,” he said, with a laugh. “This is a human situation. Search within yourself. And if you are not where you ought to be, you can commit to change.”

The rally ended with a poignant pause during which participants laid on the grass for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the same length of time that a Minneapolis police officer held his knee to Floyd’s neck until he suffocated.