On Sunday, May 31, 2020, the Fresno State chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) led a protest and march in downtown Fresno where over 3,000 people showed up to attend.

People gathered to protest the murder of several Black Americans in the U.S. including George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed while being detained by the Minneapolis Police. Several videos show Floyd being beaten by the police and held down, while an officer placed a knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

Current president of the Fresno State chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) D’Aungillique Jackson, political action chair Denise Rogers-Heydt and political activist Joshua Slack were just a few of the speakers addressing the crowd on Sunday.

Here are the photos from that protest:

Protestors began to show up at City Hall on P street a few minutes before 2 p.m. 

Members of the Fresno State NAACP raise their fists in the air with the other protestors. The man on the stage on the very right is Joshua Slack, and the woman in the black and red shirt is Fresno State NAACP President D’Aungillique Jackson.

"We have seen rioting using the hashtag, “Black Lives Matter,” with no black lives being considered. That is an issue. This is what happens when you include black people in our own struggle,” Jackson said.

Slack also gave his own speech, and he said he felt like he needed to speak as if this is like a civil rights era movement because Black people are still fighting for their civil rights.

“There are two viruses going on in this world, the coronavirus and white supremacy, and they are both killing black bodies, and they are both disproportionately affecting us, and they are both in dire need of a vaccine,” Slack said. “Unlike the coronavirus, which is relatively new, white supremacy has gone on far too long.”

Once the speeches were over at 3 p.m., people began marching towards the Fresno Police Department Headquarters on M street. Demonstrators walked along P Street, Fresno Street and M street while chanting "no justice, no peace."

Protestors stopped at Fresno PD Headquarters, which is the building on the left in the last photo. 

As several officers watched from inside the police department, Jackson spoke to the crowd as she laid out a list of demands that the organizers and protestors wanted to see fulfilled. The list included justice for every murder of Black people by police, a more diverse police department, investment in west Fresno and numerous other demands.

As the speeches ended at 4 p.m., protestors march back towards City Hall, chanting "Say his name: George Floyd."

Members of the Fresno State NAACP chapter led at the front of the march, including political action chair Denise Rogers-Heydt (in the yellow shirt) and president D’Aungillique Jackson (holding the megaphone).

Here's the moment protestors made it back to City Hall.

One Black protestor towards the front of the march was holding a flag that combined the Pan-African flag and the United States flag. This particular flag was designed in 1990 by David Hammons, an African-American artist from New York City.

At the end of the protest, the organizers said they were proud of the turnout of nearly 3,000 peaceful protestors, but understand that it will take much more for change to be implemented for the black community.

“It is never a one-time thing. You have to be constantly holding people accountable because they could easily forget about us,” Rogers-Heydt said. “It can be out of sight, out of mind. If you’re not affected by it, you’re not thinking about it…We have to force the conversation.”