MOLINE, Ill. — For two years, a group of people have been meeting every Saturday at the corner of John Deere Road and 16th Street in Moline to raise awareness for racial equality.
The weekly Racial Equality Now rallies are organized by the Progressive Action for the Common Good Civil Rights Forum.
The group began meeting on June 13, 2020, following the death of George Floyd.
"George Floyd was the straw that broke the camel's back," said PACG board member Caryn Unsicker. "All the national and local protests, there were 75, 200 people there, 300 people, and I thought, this is all gonna die down again and it's all gonna go back to normal. And it just made me sick."
Members of the group gather each Saturday from 12-12:30 p.m. carrying signs that read, "Black Lives Matter," "Honk for Racial Equality" and "No Hate."
Unsicker said they've only missed a couple Saturdays, either from the freezing cold or another time when everyone was sick.
"It's to let people see that the cause is still alive. And it's so encouraging to me, because tons of people honk, which tells me they want to keep the conversation going... and that tells me that they're aware there's an issue, and they're willing to maybe have a conversation about it if we keep going," she said. "We're not going to quit, ever, until we can hopefully say some day that there is true equality in this country."