The events of what transpired last week in Minneapolis have touched even the Rose City.

On a sweltering Sunday afternoon, dozens of people gathered to protest in support of civil rights and against racism and injustice.

It was a peaceful, yet vocal, gathering. They wanted it to be a peaceful protest, something removed from the more violent episodes taking part across the nation, and even elsewhere in our own state.

We are glad that their right to assemble and free speech was carried out in a manner that showed respect and courtesy to others. 

The marchers were even so polite and thoughtful as to collect their empty water bottles and discard of them properly in trash receptacles. 

As Marshall McLuhan once said, “the medium is the message.” In this instance, the medium was a peaceful yet earnest and determined protest, and the message is clear.

The protestors want to effect a change in this country, one where people of all walks and all backgrounds are treated equally and fairly. While they are not the only ones whose voices are being lifted, they were the ones who took their voices to the public Sunday. With their sign “honk for justice,” many passing motorists acceded, and sounded their horns in support of the marchers. 

There also were no outward displays of hostility toward the group as it walked up and down Remington Avenue and Kern Street from the farmers market to Remington Park and back. 

What they were hoping to convey is this:

We can do better. We must do better. For ourselves. For the generations to follow. Peacefully.