Hundreds marched through Midtown Atlanta on Thursday to protest police shootings around the country.
While Dallas, Texas, had reports of shots fired, Atlanta’s Black Lives Matter march stayed peaceful.
RELATED: Two officers shot in Dallas protest
The hundred or so protesters who began the night’s march about 7 p.m. at Five Points swelled to more than 400 by about 8:20 p.m. when the first wave arrived at Piedmont Park’s main entrance on 10th Street.
Marchers entered the park chanting “no justice, no peace; no racist police.”
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A woman with a baby on her chest in a carrier and a 4-year-old in a stroller said this is her first protest.
Emmy Mathis said she isn’t afraid of violence.
“They go everywhere with me,” she said of her kids.
Most people said the march was organized after the discovery of a hanged man in Piedmont Park on Thursday morning. Another march was scheduled for Centennial Park on Friday, but the local death pushed this event up by one day.
MORE: Piedmont Park hanging referred to FBI
This message is more about love than hate, J. Forts said. She pointed to her 6-year-old son when asked if she’s worried about the protest turning violent.
“I wouldn’t have brought my son if I thought there’d be violence,” she said.
This isn’t her first Black Lives Matter protest.
“I think a lot of time there’s provocation and misunderstanding that incites violence,” Forts said.
She believes the people here are sharing a message of love and solidarity.
“I think people want to be heard,” she said. “There’s more love in the message than hate.”
Parents tell their kids ‘talking about race is important’
Parent Matt Green softly explained to his 5- and 7-year-old sons, “They were all in the news” as protest leaders in the distance shouted into megaphones that “This is not just a police brutality issue. It’s all connected. Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore …”
Green said he and his wife believe talking about race is important. He is white and his boys’ mother is Asian, he said.
“We talk about Black Lives Matter and why that’s important,” Green said.
Mom was at home with the couple’s 3-year-old daughter. It’s a complicated question as to whether he fears for his children’s future safety.
“They’re not black,” Green said. “They have access to privileges that black people don’t.”
In the background, voices sang together, “I love being black; I love the color of my skin; I love the texture of my hair; I love being black.”
Growing up ‘color blind’
Green said his generation grew up color blind.
“We grew up with the idea of racism that we shouldn’t see color or pretend it doesn’t exist,” Green said. “That erases the experience of so many people.”
As djembe drums competed with raised voices, Lawrence Trapp said he came to represent students of Morehouse College.
He’s an Army National Guard veteran who is trying to rebuild his life after addiction. He’s celebrating one year clean as he’s weighing whether or not he can trust the news media and the people trying to speak on behalf of black people.
“A lot of people are speaking on behalf of black people and I don’t think it’s right. The stories aren’t being told the right way. I can call their bluff,” he said.
He said the movement is about much more than having black skin.
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