Oct. 25, 2020 6:00p
(WGTD)---A former member of the Kenosha County Board who left the area in part over frustration with racial attitudes in Kenosha says true healing in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting and protests will only take place if elected officials sincerely acknowledge that racism exists in the city.
Dayvin Hallmon served on the county board for ten years before resigning in 2018 and moving to Milwaukee. He founded the "Black String Triage Ensemble"--a group that dispatches itself to the aftermaths of shooting scenes and starts playing music in a bid to soothe tensions.
Speaking on WGTD's Community Matters program this past Saturday, Hallmon said some community leaders have taken a blind eye toward racism in the past. "I really think the only way progress can actually be made in Kenosha in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake is if people in public office are honest about the past history," he said. "I had a professor who said what you permit you promote and she was 100% correct when she said that."
Hallmon cites as an example the Kenosha County Board Executive Committee's refusal in 2017 to adopt a resolution he authored that took a stand against violence and hate speech directed at Muslims.
He also recounts two times in which he saw Black men getting searched in front of squad cars that had their hoods up--apparent attempts to block squad car dash cams from capturing the scenes.
With some apprehension, Hallmon said he led his ensemble to the park across from the courthouse the Monday after the Blake shooting. "It felt a little bit like a cook-out. People had music and they were mingling," Hallmon said. "I could tell something was going to go down so we needed to set up quickly. We needed to start the music and hope that nothing horrible would occur."
"We set up and started playing and a line of officers came out of the courthouse. People stopped what they were doing in the park and lined up to confront law enforcement. I saw white supremacists wandering through the throng of mostly angry Black and brown people, but there were some angry white folk, too. It was a very strange scene."
Before long rubber bullets started flying and tear gas wafted through the crowd.
Hallmon's ensemble retreated.
Click here for the full Community Matters program.
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