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Jevon Byrd’s remarks interrupt Black History Month proclamation at Olympia City Council meeting
Summary
At the Feb. 3 Olympia City Council meeting, guest speaker Jevon Byrd gave an impassioned critique of systemic racism during a Black History Month proclamation; Mayor Dante Payne interrupted the remarks, called them disrespectful and recessed the meeting. Council members later apologized to each other and reaffirmed the proclamation.
Jevon Byrd, invited as an event coordinator for a Black History Month proclamation at the Olympia City Council’s Feb. 3 meeting, delivered an impassioned critique of systemic racism that the mayor interrupted and stopped, prompting a brief recess.
Byrd, whom Mayor Dante Payne introduced as the Hawk Foundation’s event coordinator, said during his remarks that he had to "remind myself to control the boiling in my blood" and accused "white liberals" of offering "fake smiles and gestures of reconciliation" that fall short of justice. "You thought…
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