'Black Ohioans Are Not OK,' Says Cleveland Heights Lawmaker

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Black Ohioans are not OK, state Rep. Janine Boyd said this week. Protests over racial inequality and police violence have erupted around Ohio and the nation.

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked protests throughout the nation. Demonstrations in Ohio erupted in Cleveland and Columbus before coming to the suburbs. Cleveland Heights, where Boyd is from, hosted a protest on Wednesday afternoon.

Floyd died while in police custody. Video of his death shows a police officer pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

Boyd said Ohio Republicans have blocked progress on a number of bills which would promote racial equality, including legislation on criminal justice reform, equality, gun safety, increasing the minimum wage and prohibiting discrimination in various forms

Boyd's full statement is below.

My statement won’t be unique. All of us who come from the fight for justice and equality, or who’ve made it our mission as well- we all share the same general sense and sentiments. We are tired and angry, and we are heart broken and disappointed. But we are committed and determined, and we are strong and steadfast.

Across Ohio over the weekend, we watched peaceful protests become the very thing we continue to protest against, in terms of the way many protesters were handled and the use of excessive force. People can try to explain it away by referencing looting and vandalism- but we’ve seen these kinds of law enforcement tactics from the American Civil Rights Movement to the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock. We’ve seen it over and over and over again. Black or Brown skin is considered more dangerous, more offensive and provocative than the long guns on the shoulders of a White protester who waves his confederate flag and his anti-Semitic symbols, and storms state capitals. The looting of Black lives is what led us here to this moment in history. We have to control what will lead us out of this moment.

There is one particular African proverb that’s being quoted pretty frequently now, but it just keeps ringing in my head and heart, ‘The child who is not embraced by the village, will burn it down to feel its warmth.’ But again, we have the power to make things right.'