By Bel Mancuso
George Floyd, 46, was not the first victim of police brutality.
But his death spurred an uproar across all 50 states and 18 countries. Despite Ada’s small size, there were many who were outraged by Floyd’s death and decided to it was time to demand change.
The first protest was held on Sunday, May 31, on Ohio Northern University property, across from East of Chicago.
It was started by Gabe D. Rastatter, who is a third-year law student at Ohio Northern University. Once others saw him protesting a crowd began to join.
On Monday, June 1, Ada local, Mara Guyton, a political science major and minor in public policy and gender/sexuality studies at ONU, took the initiative and organized another protest through Facebook and Twitter.
I interviewed Mara and Gabe and asked about how they organized the protest, their thoughts on the movement, and their reaction to the support, turnout, and even backlash.
• Interview with Gabe Rastatter:
What spurred you to go out and protest in Ada? Did you expect anyone to join you? Why Ada?
I woke up Sunday morning and what I saw on the news and social media broke my heart. I felt compelled to do something – anything.
The idea that just popped into my head: “what if I just sat on Main Street with a sign?” So that’s what I did. I didn’t have any plans beforehand, and I figured I could maybe make an impact on my little college town, even if it was small.
I decided to protest in Ada because it shouldn’t matter where we are. This isn’t something that is relevant only in a few places. This is a worldwide problem, and we need to start somewhere. I didn’t expect anybody to join me, just because I didn’t make any formal plans for it.
What was your reaction to having others join you and your movement?
When the first people asked if they could sit with me, I was so happy. That moment was the encouragement we all needed. The group kept growing and growing and I was simply amazed that all of these people would sacrifice an afternoon to do what is right and spread the message.
Do you think your call to action was well-received in Ada? Do you think it helped to educate others?
The response was overwhelmingly positive. Lots of people drove by with raised fists, honking their horns, and shouting words of encouragement. But those weren’t necessarily the people I was trying to reach – they were already on the side of justice.
I was more interested in reaching the people who didn’t know what was going on, and the people who might not see these things in the same light. I wanted to reach out to those people with love and compassion most of all.
• Interview with Mara Guyton:
What made you decide to organize the protest?
Seeing Gabe, you, Alexa, and Lydia protesting on Sunday motivated me to get out and protest that afternoon. Seeing others protest in Ada made me feel more comfortable to protest in a small town because I felt like my anger about George Floyd’s anger was validated. Seeing the support for the protests made me want to organize a protest for the next day, so I did.
How did you inform everyone about the protest?
I used Twitter, Facebook, and word of mouth to inform everyone.
Did you receive any backlash?
We did receive some backlash. The only backlash we received though were a few middle fingers, people cursing at us, and trucks doing burnouts and attempting to smoke us out in order to intimidate us. The backlash did make me very angry though, there’s no need to act that way about valuing human life.
Did you expect to receive such a large turnout?
I was thrilled with the turnout. It’s difficult to have an opposing opinion in Hardin County, but when it comes to human rights violations I think we’re all on the same page: human rights deserve to be protected, especially people of color and the black community. It’s important for us to acknowledge that we will never understand what it is like to be discriminated against for the color of our skin but we can use our privilege to support those who are and end systemic racism.
Do you think the protests had a positive effect on Ada and helped to educate others?
Yes, I do. I think the protests gave people a reason to stop and pay attention to the issue at hand and finally put themselves in the positions that the black community deals with daily.
Photos by Ziad Youssfi and Bel Mancuso -
