Protesters have been gathering in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and around North Carolina for more than a week following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died May 25 when a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.

Here, some protesters talk about why they’re speaking out, and what change they hope will come from demonstrations across the country in response to the death of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old medical technician killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police in March.

Kayla Beasley, 20, Durham

“History keeps repeating itself, and it’s time for change. I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t try to help be part of the change. Sitting around doesn’t make me feel good. I want change not only for myself but for future generations.

“Why are we getting killed for being black? Not even doing anything, just literally being black.”

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Max Williams, 26, Cary

“There’s a lot of police injustices that have been going on for a very long time. And it kind of goes further than that. These are all rooted in old, racist history. You might have heard speakers talking about the sheriff’s badge is the same badge that they used to round up slaves who escaped. We’re all here to basically fight against these systemic injustices that are present throughout our country and have been present and will be present if we don’t do something about it.

“I’m hoping to see convictions, obviously, for every cop who has murdered people and is still walking free. ... On top of that, I need to see real changes in the way police accountability is handled, internal review, and I want to see police held to a higher standard.”

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Susie Masescar, 26, Raleigh

“I’m here to support my brown and black friends and amplify their voices. We’re here because we will not let this police brutality go unnoticed. It is unacceptable, and we will be unrelenting. What I would like to see in Raleigh is for them to adopt the 8 Can’t Wait. In Raleigh, specifically, that means no chokeholds, requiring deescalation and no shooting at moving vehicles.”

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Dante Strobino, 38, Durham

“We’re out here because white silence is violence. Black lives matter, and it’s really important that people stand up right now to challenge the local police departments and the federal agencies that have deployed the National Guard and the military to intervene in the righteous anger that young, black, brown, white and all people are feeling right now. But particularly to support the black and brown youth that have been raising up — after going through hundreds of years of racist oppression in this country, from discrimination on the job, to discrimination in the health care system, to discrimination of police, folks have a righteous reason for rising up.

“I think it’s our job to support whatever tactics people want to use to speak out their anger. To be out here in any form of protest that people feel is necessary to get the attention — if it wasn’t for all the mass demonstrations and rebellions, and frankly for all the property damage, it wouldn’t have been so much of a national conversation right now around the real deep necessity to not only defund but abolish the police.”

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Ji’Lil Michael, 19, Burlington

“I feel like everybody’s life is important, but right now the (black) people really need support from everybody. I actually want justice for myself, and from people at my school, I want them to support me as much as I support them.

“I’m hoping that everybody sees the wrong that’s going on. A lot of people are missing the purpose of why these protests are going on, why the riots are happening. One thing I learned from my research from Martin Luther King is that the riots are the language of the unheard. And right now people feel like they’re not being heard.”

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Ny Williams, 17, Raleigh

“I feel uncomfortable every single day. I feel uncomfortable walking past police officers, I feel uncomfortable when I’m walking on the sidewalk and white people won’t move to let me walk. I want you to feel uncomfortable, I want you to feel how I feel.”

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Angela Salamanca, 43, Raleigh

“It’s been hard to find words during this time. We own a business downtown. We’ve been closed since the beginning of March. It’s been a really hard season.

“Being part of this conversation feels like the right thing to do, showing up in this way to listen, to be supportive. It feels like the thing we can do as a family to navigate everything that is going on.

“I think policy change is what I hope to see. And I think that’s on all of us, to really hold our local leaders accountable for the communities we want to live in.”

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Mya Mercado, 27, Durham

“I’m out here to bring everybody in Durham and locally together in a musical perspective. … We’re just going to vibe out, and everyone is welcome — any color of your skin, you’re welcome.

“I want to see everybody come together and there not have to be fights and protesting and us kneeling. If everybody just kind of listened and everybody just had an open ear and an open mind, then I think we’ll be successful in coming together.”

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Eric Steele, 28, Morrisville

“I’m here to support my best friend and all other black people and minorities for getting (expletive) by the police. For me, it’s obviously a racial issue, and that’s the main priority. But I see a little deeper past that to a fascism/authoritarian issue.

“Immediate change, I need systemic change in the way we police. The police respond to things that they shouldn’t respond. Mental health crises should be mental health care professionals. Social/welfare calls should be social workers. I think we need detectives — people need to investigate crimes — but I don’t think police need to be the first responders for every situation that they’re called for. They’re inadequately trained.”

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Stephanie Johnson, 58, Raleigh

“It’s a lot of injustice. I’m really out (here) for injustice and hopefully to make a change. I think it’s a good movement, and we have to continue the movement .... (to change)wage equality, equality on the corporate level, fairness, getting rid of the chokeholds across the board from all police departments, retraining the police departments, maybe even retraining citizens.”

“I felt like [the death of George Floyd] was another one of my brothers killed, murdered. Modern-day lynching, that’s what I felt.”

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Jordan Sample, 20, Raleigh

“I’m very tired of seeing every day on the news that innocent black people are getting killed for no reason. There are tons of George Floyds and Breonna Taylors that are unknown right now.

“This isn’t mending, and until I see justice I’m going to keep walking.”

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Tim White, 26, Raleigh

“I’m out here in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, specifically to address not only police brutality, but also the disproportionate effects of health, wealth and income inequality, justice inequality, all of the embedded system racist inequalities that exist in our country right now.

“This is an issue of morality. … Unless we keep talking about it, it’s going to keep happening, and that’s unacceptable.”

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Jydia Faucette, 18, Burlington

“I’m hoping that people realize that history is repeating itself and that we need a new normal, because this isn’t working anymore.

“Black Lives Matter is getting the attention it deserves.”

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Danielle James, 31, Durham

“I feel like we all have to do our part in the way that we can.

“The main thing, in my opinion, is respect for other human beings that don’t have the same opinions as you. That’s what it boils down to — or don’t look like the same as you, or don’t have the same sexual orientation. It’s a little bit of, ‘Mind your own business.’”

These comments were taken from interviews conducted by the following News & Observer reporters covering protests over the past week: Jonathan Alexander, Virginia Bridges, Emily Leiker, Kate Murphy, Lucille Sherman and Jonas Pope

This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 10:45 AM with the headline "Protesters talk about the change they hope to see in North Carolina and the country."