{"id":18839,"date":"2026-09-14T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/?p=18839"},"modified":"2026-09-14T06:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T13:03:28","slug":"we-refused-to-be-silent-we-refused-to-back-down-and-we-won","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/we-refused-to-be-silent-we-refused-to-back-down-and-we-won\/","title":{"rendered":"We Refused to Be Silent. We Refused to Back Down. And We Won."},"content":{"rendered":"

We Refused to Be Silent. We Refused to Back Down. And We Won.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By the Plaintiffs in Black Unity v. City of Springfield<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

We Marched Because Silence Was Never an Option<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Five years ago, we took to the streets because silence was not an option.<\/p>\n

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chavin, and during the summer of 2020, the country was reckoning with the Black Lives Matter Movement and the long history of racist police.\u00a0 In Springfield, Oregon, a Black family was living across the street from a skeleton hanging from a noose on a neighbor’s tree. Some locals defended this as \u2018just a Halloween decoration\u2019\u2026in July. To us\u2014and to generations of Black Americans\u2014it was an unmistakable symbol of racial terror. It represented centuries of violence, intimidation, and the message that Black people are not safe, not welcome, and not equal.<\/p>\n

As young BIPOC community activists and allies, we refused to accept that message and seized the historic moment to make change.<\/p>\n

We organized throughout that spring and summer, and on July 29, 2020, we planned a peaceful march in the Thurston neighborhood where the noosed skeleton was hanging\u2014and where several Springfield police officers also lived. We gathered our neighbors, our friends, and our community because we believed that confronting racism publicly was not only our right\u2014it was our responsibility. We believed the Constitution protected our right to speak, to assemble, and to demand better from our government. We believed law enforcement was required to uphold those rights, even if they didn’t agree with our message.<\/p>\n

We were wrong.<\/p>\n

Instead of protecting peaceful demonstrators, Springfield police prepared to stop us. They illegally monitored our organizing, erected barricades and forced participants through a gauntlet of violent racists that they colluded with throughout the day (and frankly the summer), the chief of police declared our march unlawful, and then unleashed cops who pushed, punched and beat people calling for racial justice with unlawful excessive force instead of protecting our right to protest. In that moment, it became painfully clear that the greatest threat to our constitutional rights was not the hateful racist display that brought us into the streets. It was the government’s racist response to people demanding justice.<\/p>\n

That realization changed us forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we arrived, we were met by counter-protesters, Proud Boys, and undercover officers screaming \u201cFUCK BLM\u201d and carrying weapons. As we marched, barricades blocked our path, and police declared an unlawful assembly without explaining why. Officers then attacked and arrested protesters, disproportionately targeting Black people. We were pushed back toward the original protest area, where an angry mob of counter-protesters attacked us with American flags, bear and wasp spray, and frozen paintballs. It was one of the most traumatic experiences I\u2019ve ever endured.\u201d \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0Kinaya, CLDC Client and Black Unity Co Founder<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Democracy Depends on the Right to Dissent<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When we decided to file this federal civil rights lawsuit, we understood what we were up against.<\/p>\n

Police departments rarely admit wrongdoing. Government agencies have tremendous resources to defend themselves. Civil rights cases can take years, and they often require plaintiffs to relive painful experiences while facing public criticism and relentless legal challenges. There were moments when continuing felt exhausting.<\/p>\n

But we also knew what would happen if we walked away.<\/p>\n

If we accepted what happened without challenging it, the message would be unmistakable: governments can suppress peaceful protest and beat protestors without consequence. Future organizers would inherit fewer freedoms than we had and would face increased physical danger and abuse. The next generation of young people speaking out against injustice would have even less protection than we did.<\/p>\n

This lawsuit was never simply about what happened to us on one day in Springfield, Oregon. It was about whether the Constitution still means what it says. The First Amendment exists to protect speech that challenges those in power. If those rights disappear the moment police disagree with the message being expressed, they are no longer rights at all. They become privileges\u2014and privileges can be taken away.\u00a0 All those civil rights activists that fought against racism in the 60\u2019s and 70\u2019s were not injured or killed in vain.\u00a0 Their struggles laid the foundation for ours and we knew we stood on their shoulders in much the same way that the next generation will stand on ours.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we filed this lawsuit against the Springfield Police Department, we knew it would be a long journey but one well worth taking. This settlement helps debunk the narrative that we were just a careless group of people trying to cause havoc. Instead it reaffirms who we always were, intelligent and organized community activists standing up for people of color in a small town like Springfield and demanding accountability from our supposed public servants, the Springfield Police Department.\u201d \u2013 Claire, CLDC Clien<\/strong>t<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This Was Bigger Than One Protest<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As this case unfolded, it became about far more than one march or one city.<\/p>\n

It became about whether law enforcement can surveil political organizers in advance of protests because they disagree with their message. Whether police can physically retaliate against people exercising their constitutional rights and whether courts will hold them accountable for unlawful excessive force. Whether communities should fear government intimidation simply because they choose to protest injustice.<\/p>\n

Those questions matter everywhere. Every movement for justice has relied on the ability of ordinary people to gather together and challenge those in power. Those freedoms survive only because people are willing to defend them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Accountability Is Possible<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For too long, many communities have been told that holding police accountable is impossible.<\/p>\n

Our case tells a different story.<\/p>\n

After years of litigation, a federal court refused to allow our claims to be swept aside. Rather than defend its actions before a jury, the City chose to settle.<\/p>\n

That outcome matters not because it erases what happened\u2014it cannot\u2014but because it demonstrates that constitutional rights are enforceable. When government officials violate those rights, communities are not powerless. Organizing matters. Persistence matters. Accountability is possible.<\/p>\n

That is why this settlement is historic. It sends a message that constitutional violations are not simply the cost of doing business. When communities organize, refuse to back down, and insist that public officials answer for their actions, meaningful accountability can follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Black Unity, we consistently created space for people to express their joy, share their pain, embrace their individuality, use their voices, spread love, and show up for one another. I remember being profiled in the very same town where I experienced racism for the first time. A police officer who didn\u2019t know my name or my spirit had already formed a preconceived notion about me\u2014about all of us. Yet through conversation, he was forced to confront a perspective he wasn\u2019t expecting.\u201d \u2013 Kinaya, CLDC Client and Black Unity Co Founder<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This Victory Belongs to Every Movement<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Although our names appear on the lawsuit, this victory was never ours alone.<\/p>\n

It belongs to every person who stood beside us in the streets and every child that held a \u2018Black Lives Matter\u2019 sign. To every organizer who has ever wondered whether standing up and showing up would make a difference. To every community that has been told to wait patiently for justice while their rights were ignored.<\/p>\n

When one community successfully defends constitutional rights, those protections become stronger for everyone. That is how movements grow. That is how democracy survives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this settlement comes to a close, I sincerely hope it also serves as an opportunity for reflection and positive change. My hope is that every person’s constitutional rights will be respected and protected, and that action will be taken to help prevent these atrocities from occurring in the future.\u201d \u2013 Mya, CLDC Client<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Work Continues<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This settlement closes an important chapter, but it does not end the work.<\/p>\n

Across the country, communities continue to confront many of the same challenges that brought us into the streets in 2020. More BIPOC people have been killed by police and fascism is on the rise. People are still organizing for racial justice, demanding police accountability, and exercising the constitutional rights that belong to all of us.<\/p>\n

If there is one lesson we hope others take from our experience, it is this: never believe that your voice is too small or that the institutions you challenge are too powerful. Real change has always come from people willing to stand together, tell the truth, and refuse to accept injustice as inevitable.<\/p>\n

Five years ago, we marched because a noose reminded our community of one of the darkest chapters in American history. We marched because we believed that silence would only allow injustice to flourish.<\/p>\n

Today, we celebrate because the Constitution proved stronger than intimidation.<\/p>\n

This victory belongs to everyone who believes that our freedoms have meaning only if we are willing to defend them. Our case may have begun in Springfield, but its message reaches far beyond one city or one lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The Constitution belongs to the people.<\/p>\n

And when ordinary people refuse to be silent, refuse to back down, and stand together to defend it, history can change.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We Refused to Be Silent. We Refused to Back Down. And We Won. By the Plaintiffs in Black Unity v. City of Springfield   We Marched Because Silence Was Never an Option Five years ago, we took to the streets because silence was not an option. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18839"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18843,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18839\/revisions\/18843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}