BALLWIN, Mo. — It was a fiery, vocal and diverse group.
"We have nothing to lose. It is our duty to fight for our freedom," Creve Coeur Councilwoman-elect Nicole Greer told the crowd of more than 1,000 people.
On a sunny, summer-like day, several hundred students and alumni from the Parkway School District, teachers, administrators, parents and more spent a Sunday afternoon outside Parkway West High School.
They held familiar signs such as "Black Lives Matter" and "No Justice, No Peace" high in the air and kept chanting the slogans that have become synonymous with recent peaceful demonstrations across the country.
The group rallied during what they called a "fight" against police brutality, racial injustice and racism in America.
They then held a "Walk For Black Lives."
"I"m tired. Everyone is tired," shouted 19-year-old Parkway Central alumna Chayse Williams.
High profile deaths of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta and George Floyd in Minneapolis angered the crowd.
"We are just sick of all of it. It's everything. George Floyd's tragic and insensitive death ignited a movement in the eyes of many people," Williams said.
Speaker after speaker pumped up the crowd.
"We're gonna go from the streets to the seats," Greer said. "Those are school board and city council seats. Don't just stop here. Get ready! Get ready to run for office many of you young people."
"We also know that there are Parkway School Board members and principals here and we want to ignite a change and to bring awareness to our community and to others around that we must have more diversity on the school board," added Williams.
The demonstrators then trekked a mile and a half away to Parkway West Middle School where they stretched across the school's soccer field and laid face down for eight minutes and 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd.
"I feel like our black boys are dying and their mothers are crying and nobody's listening," said retired police officer and St. Louis mother Dana Isom.
Isom marched down the west county streets with her children.
"I think that people are tired. Not just black people. We're all on the same page it seems like and we're not stopping. Yes, I'm very hopeful," Isom said.
"You young people who are eligible to vote, you must go to the polls in August," Williams told the crowd. "Anyone of power who you want to see change things, you need to elect those people. It's time for a change."
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