Close to 20 people met on the southside of the Greene County Courthouse in Jefferson Tuesday for the weekly non-violent protest against systemic racism.

The event started with co-organizer Dale Hanaman sharing a video of the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” which he said is often referred to as the Black national anthem. He showed the video in honor of the late John Lewis, who was a U.S. Representative and Civil Rights activist. Then other participants shared their views of why they were there to march in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Since the protests began in early June in Jefferson, the largest crowd was 50 people, but there has been an average of 15 participants for the past few weeks. Hanaman shared his thoughts about why he wanted to continue holding the protests, even if the number of people remained the same.

“I’m okay with the size. It’s a presence. Even the number of people who are here, it’s made a difference to have people making comments from the sidelines, from across the street or driving by. (We) wouldn’t have heard any of that had we not been here. And it wouldn’t have raised any idea in Greene County or Jefferson that there is racial issues that we have to struggle with.”

The participants then carried signs as they walked around the courthouse. The weekly protests are held every Tuesday at noon on the southside of the courthouse.