The local activist group Generation Y Project plans to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday Thursday with a noon rally at Georgia State University, followed by a march to Atlanta City Hall to demand, among other things, that all Atlanta police officers wear body cameras and that the city's Citizen's Review Board that looks into complaints against officers have its power increased.
In a press release, organizers said the group would also be remembering victims of alleged police misconduct, including Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh, the Habersham County toddler disfigured last May in a botched drug raid and Kathryn Johnston, the 92-year-old woman killed by Atlanta police during a 2006 raid on her Vine City home.
“These people and their stories are integral in our fight for social justice,” organizers said in the press release. “Each story is evidence of an unjust and deadly system in the U.S.”
The rally and march will be followed at 5 p.m. by a “New Year, Same Struggle” panel discussion at the American Service Friends Committee office at 60 Walton St.
“The panel is an opportunity for the community to talk to young activists about the impact of police violence,” according to the press release.
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