Fort Mill girl was scared when cops pulled over her dad. Here’s what she’s doing now.
One Fort Mill Elementary School student said she felt afraid for her family after hearing stories of black men killed by police across the country each year.
According to The Washington Post, U.S. police shot 19 unarmed black men in 2017.
When her dad was pulled over by police, it made 12-year-old Kennedy Williams’ fear even more real. Both are black.
Her mom, Latoya Williams, said she told Kennedy: “It’s OK to be angry, OK to be scared. What do you want to do about it?”
So Kennedy decided to do something.
She has organized the “Races Unite” march, which will be in Fort Mill Saturday at 10 a.m. Kennedy said she wanted to do something to promote togetherness in the community.
“I decided to do this because I’ve seen black people be killed, or black men specifically, be killed on social media or the news,” she said. “So once I saw my dad pulled over, it was first-hand. So I was kind of scared and mad at the same time. So I decided to do something peacefully to keep segregation out of Fort Mill and the community.”
Latoya said she and husband Arthur, who she said was pulled over twice but not ticketed, weren’t sure if Kennedy was serious about organizing a march at first. But Kennedy took inspiration from the civil rights movement.
“When they wanted to bring attention to a thing, they marched,” Latoya said.
She knew Kennedy was serious when she started using her allowance money to pay for posters and fliers for the march.
“Her father and I and all of our family are very, very proud of her,” she said. “It’s a big undertaking but we knew that she’s a special child and we had to really support her with this.”
Kennedy plans to speak after Saturday’s march. The march will start at the Veterans Park at 106 N. White St. in Fort Mill and end at Bethlehem Baptist Church at 601 Joe Louis St.
Sanctuary Charlotte Church youth pastor Jeremy Simmons and Fort Mill Elementary School Guidance Counselor Elizabeth Hart are listed as guest speakers for the event, billed as “a day of unity” on Kennedy’s fliers.
Kennedy said the event is in February, but shouldn’t be thought of as a Black History Month event. She wants racial togetherness and understanding in the community to be a year-round goal.
“I don’t want people to think it’s just for Black History Month,” she said. “It’s for change all around, not just in February.”
