LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Members of Until Freedom and local volunteers came together Saturday to begin BreonnaCon, a four-day event that organizers are calling a "community convention."
Until Freedom is a social justice group that moved its operations to Louisville in early August. The group organized events Saturday through Tuesday, including a farmer's market, community barbecue and policy panel workshops, that all lead up to a demonstration on Tuesday.
While the group's primary mission is to push for justice for Breonna Taylor, Until Freedom co-founder Angelo Pinto said the group has a larger goal, too.
"We also wanted to bring the voices from Louisville and some national voices together to have some important conversations around politics, policy, organizing and other forms of empowerment," he said.
Pinto said it's unclear how long the group, which has deployed about 25-40 organizers from across the country to Louisville, will stay in the city.
"For us, Louisville is becoming like a second home," he said. "I think for us, we know we can't leave until something happens. That's kind of our position. We came to get justice for Breonna Taylor and to move the needle forward and we are not comfortable leaving until something happens."
Pinto and dozens of volunteers kicked off BreonnaCon on Saturday morning by passing out boxes of food to families outside the Louisville Urban League on West Broadway. Pinto said there were 1,700 boxes full of fruits and vegetables, and he expected to feed about 1,500 families.
Dozens of volunteers kicked off BreonnaCon by passing out boxes of food to families outside the Louisville Urban League on West Broadway.
Cars were pulling up in a drive-thru fashion as volunteers unloaded refrigerated trucks full of food boxes and milk. Boxes were also given to individuals who walked up. Pinto said Until Freedom is giving the food away at no charge, but he couldn't clarify on who funded the efforts.
"We can't say exactly who but there is someone who is not from Kentucky who has donated the food. It's an outfit in Texas that was able to contribute the food to us," he explained.
The farmer's market was just the first event on the four-day schedule.
Saturday afternoon, the group held dual empowerment seminars for both men and women.
Rakole Clayton says the event for women taught her a lot she didn't know.
"We all want to get ahead, but sometimes, we don't utilize each other to try to get ahead, and from this conference I feel like I might start reaching out to people — to other people I know — to see how we can help each other," she said.
Kenneth Walker (center, in blue shirt and red hat) takes a photo with other participants. (WDRB Photo)
Until Freedom hosted a similar forum for men at the Kula Art Gallery in downtown. Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of Taylor, participated in a discussion about racial and social justice issues.
Neal Robertson left the event with positive reviews. Robertson said he wished more people from Louisville would have attended the event.
"Learn from people. That's what the world revolves on," Robertson said. "We're learning from each other. Until Freedom's here and whoever else is here — we're learning from them."
After a Sunday community barbecue and other events on Monday, BreonnaCon will culminate with what organizers say will be a "nonviolent direct action" march on the LMPD Training Academy off Taylor Boulevard.
"We're hoping to make another political statement," Pinto said. "We'll be targeting another lever of power in the city and we hope that that lever of power recognizes that more of this will come if change doesn't happen and happen swiftly."
Robertson, an experienced Louisville activist, says he'll participate and continue similar protests in Louisville.
"We're not going to stop. When we fade away, more people are going to come," he said. "You lock up one, 25 is coming after that. You lock up 25, 150 is coming after that. We won't stop 'til justice takes its course."
Until Freedom is not a stranger to arrests. During a July demonstration on the lawn of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's home, 87 protesters were arrested.
When Until Freedom arrived in Louisville in early August, a local pastor spoke about the Kentucky Derby during a rally.
"There's nothing to celebrate this year in regards to Derby," Pastor Tim Findley said. "We will not celebrate horses running around the track. We will not celebrate any kind of party. We are shutting everything down — from Churchill Downs to the airport to the hotels to the restaurants. No justice, no peace!"
On Saturday, Pinto commented about Churchill Downs' decision to no longer allow fans at this year's Derby, citing a steady increase of coronavirus cases in Louisville in recent weeks.
"I'm interested in understanding their motives," he said. "What was the motivation behind no fans? Was it a fear that something might happen at the Derby that would be politically charged and bring more attention to them? Attention that they don't want? Or was it for some other reason? I think that's something I've been thinking about quite a bit."
Churchill Downs President and CEO Kevin Flanery on Friday acknowledged the unrest going on around the city and said the race track wants "a good dialogue about equality for everyone, justice for everyone."
"You know, the Derby in the past has been a uniting event," Flanery added. "It’s been something we can look at in our community and say we’ve got a lot of good things going on. Unfortunately, just with where everything is right now, we can’t do that this year, but that dialogue will continue. I know that a lot of folks want to have meaningful conversation, and we’ll be a part of it too."
Pinto went on to say, "I mean the other thing is, they're just not having patrons. Derby is going to continue. And I think that also sends the wrong message given everything that's taken place with Breonna Taylor and how slow justice has moved."
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