No Justice, No Peace

A boy bikes across Francis Scott Key Bridge as police watch in the back.

From noon to nightfall, the chants could be heard throughout Washington D.C. 

“Fire, fire, gentrifier!”

“Black people used to live here!”

“No justice, no peace!”

A man pauses to put his fist in the air, a symbol of resistance.

As America faces a nation-wide conversation about racial inequity in the aftermath of  George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, America’s capital has been no exception to throngs of protestors taking to the streets. 

And while demonstrations have subsided in many parts of the country, on one mid-August day in Washington D.C., protestors trekked throughout the city from daytime into the early morning hours of the following day — making clear they had no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Protestors march through Georgetown.

A protester with a shield marched through the Adams Morgan area at night. 

For nearly 12 hours, demonstrators marched for miles, taking over the city’s streets. Flanked by police — a standard procedure during protests — residents marched through the swanky Georgetown neighborhood and shut down the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Kids on bicycles led the group, as demonstrators waved their placards, calling for racial equality in the District.

While the march was largely peaceful, the potential for a clash with law enforcement loomed. Just a few nights prior, 41 people were arrested for trying to incite a riot. At one point, police and demonstrators physically confronted each other. 

But ultimately, this march was void of any arrests or riots. In their masks and bandannas, they made clear: the movement would continue. 

A boy bikes at the front of the march at night.