By HOI ABC

NORMAL – A group in Bloomington-Normal hosted a ‘skate for justice’ event, where everyone was encouraged to bike, skateboard, or walk for the cause of Black Lives Matter.

“It’s kind of a creative idea to skate, skateboard, roller skate or bike along for black lives,” said Olivia Butts, who is on the leadership team for Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal.

She told our news partner HOI ABC organizers of the event asked BLM BloNo to come speak to those in attendance.

“They also posted links for our fundraiser for our bail out fund just to donate to BLM in BloNo, and I know they did that for next gen initiative as well so that’s been really great,” said Butts.

BLM BloNo released five demands on Juneteenth, and Butts says the best way to achieve those changes, is to start locally.

“We want to make change at the McLean County Board, we want to make change at Bloomington City Council we want to make change at Normal Town Council, so we really believe that people should engage locally to make that change happen here in Bloomington-Normal first,” said Butts.

Butts says there are protests all over the country, which she thinks is a great start, but the question she wants people to ask themselves is: what is the next step?

“How can you talk to your Bloomington City Council person? How can you talk to the people who sit on Normal Town Council? And how can we make change that will kind of reverse some of this systemic racism that we see all over the country here in Bloomington Normal?” questioned Butts.

Butts says it is important that protests are happening locally, even though incidents like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were not local. She says injustices happen everywhere, even in our own backyards.

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