BLACK Lives Matter campaigners highlighted their fight against racism in a Bank Holiday walk across the Black Country - commemorating civil rights milestones in black history.
BLM Stourbridge supporters walked from Stourbridge town centre to Dudley's Stone Street Square where they held a rally with speeches, music and poetry on Friday (August 28) before continuing on the following day (Saturday August 29) to Wolverhampton - gathering walkers along the way and culminating in a crowd of around 200 at the finish point in Queen Square.
Supported by Black Country Stand Up to Racism, the socially-distanced 'Walk the Black Country’ event was organised to start on August 28 - the date on which slavery was abolished in Britain and its colonies in 1833 and the date of Martin Luther King's famous 1963 'I have a dream' speech.
Campaigner Roger Kendrick said both legs of the walk were "inspiring and well-attended" and he added: "It was also great to get such a mix of supporters from all parts of Stourbridge, Dudley and Wolverhampton who walked peacefully and ensured across the Black Country the support for Black Lives Matter was heard loud and clear."
The walk also included speeches, music and poetry at stop-offs along the route including in Brierley Hill, Sedgley and Gornal.
Mr Kendrick, a member of Hope Not Hate and Stand Up To Racism, added: "We also took the knee at a number of points along the walk to further show our support for the BAME community."
Dudley councillor Shaukat Ali was among the speakers. A number of Wolverhampton councillors also took part in the final stages of the event which was attended by members of the Windrush campaign including Natalie Wilson - daughter of Paulette Wilson, of Wolverhampton, who was the first female victim of the Windrush scandal.
BLM Stourbridge has thanked all those who helped to stage and participate in the peaceful event promoting the global Black Lives Matter movement which is campaigning for an end to end police brutality, harassment of black people and deaths in police custody, as well as calling for a decolonised school curriculum and for authorities to take action regarding historical reports of discrimination and inequality.
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