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Civil rights activist says community can overcome police brutality

Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons speaks at an event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event. Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons speaks at an event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event.

By Yolanda Putman January 13, 2016 3 min read

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Seeking action: Civil rights activist says community must work together against police brutality

Mark Gilliland walks past a "Black Lives Matter" sign before event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event.

Greeter Walter Beard reads as he waits for the start of an event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event.

Ash-Lee Henderson, right, hugs Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons as he arrives event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event.

Elizabeth Mackey, right, talks with Joanna Hennigan, center, and Peter Hennigan before event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event.

Kreneshia Whiteside waits for the start of an event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event.

Walter Harmon sings during event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event.

Organization for Black Struggles executive director Montague Simmons finalizes his speaking notes before event presented by Concerned Citizens for Justice held at First Baptist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Simmons, a community organizer in St. Louis who helped organize protests in Ferguson, Mo., was the keynote speaker at the event.

A civil rights activist who gained national attention after organizing marches against the fatal police shooting of Micheal Brown in Ferguson, Mo., admonished Chattanoogans to take action against police brutality or their children will face the same environment of hostility in the future.

He also encouraged residents to dream of a future where blacks are not disproportionately killed and put in jail. And he challenged them to organize to make their dreams reality.

Montague Simmons, executive director of Organization for Black Struggle in St. Louis, spoke to more than 100 people gathered at First Baptist Church on Eighth Street on Tuesday. The crowd of whites and blacks included people who came from as far as Knoxville, Oak Ridge and New Market, Tenn.

Concerned Citizens for Justice and the Unity Group presented the #BlackLivesMatter event in coordination with a weeklong celebration of the late civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived a radical life. He lived and left a radical legacy that we all are standing on,” said Ash-Lee Henderson of Concerned Citizens for Justice while giving the occasion for the event.

Simmons was asked to speak after Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza had to cancel her appearance. She is expected to speak in Chattanooga in February.

Simmons encouraged the crowd to dream of a world that does not include the criminalization some blacks have experienced and to dream beyond the usual expectations of police reform.

“We’re at a moment where we are being called to redefine what it means to be free, to redefine what it means to be safe in our persons and in our communities. We are actually in a place where we can create safety without criminalization, without rebuilding a cycle for others to continue profiting off of our bodies,” Simmons said.

Police reform has come to mean more cameras and surveillance, but the cycle of criminalization for black people continues, he said.

“Today marks the month of when they took one,” he said, referring to the one-month anniversary since Chattanooga police fatally shot Javario Eagle.

In a video posted online by Concerned Citizens for Justice, Simmons encouraged people to express opposition to police shootings, even if the gesture was writing a message online.

“You must find your way to resist,” he said. “Even if it’s just something you do online, it matters now more than ever for those in power to understand that they’re not just out of relationship with us, they’re out of relationship with you. And that the actions that we’ve seen by the police, that they outrage your values as much as ours.”

The celebration continues with an interfaith prayer service at 6 p.m. today at the St. Andrews Center at 1918 Union Ave. And the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth will host a conference at 9 a.m. Thursday at Second Missionary Baptist Church on East Third Street.

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.