DEWAUN ROBINSON

FLINT, MI -- More than a week’s worth of events will lead up to a major Juneteenth celebration at Max Brandon Park and Riverbank Park in downtown Flint next weekend. Starting this Saturday, June 11, with the pre-launch event, organizer DeWaun Robinson said the organizing committee is getting back to pre-COVID-19 traditions with multiple events this Juneteenth. “It’s going to be a fun-filled week of events and I am just excited,” Robinson told MLive-The Flint Journal. Flint’s celebration will be capped with a Champions Parade through downtown on Saginaw Street, a Juneteenth Concert from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Riverbank Park and a fireworks show. Mama Sol, Flint spoken word and recording artist, will perform at the concert.

On Friday (April 22), a funeral will be held for Patrick Lyoya, the man shot and killed by a police officer in Grand Rapids. Thursday in Lansing, people gathered to demand justice and to demand more information be released by police.

FLINT, MI -- Patrick Lyoya’s and John Fleming’s story are no different, Flint Black Lives Matter demonstrators argued Thursday night. The Flint man was taken to Hurley Medical Center in Flint where a video shows multiple officers restraining him and a Genesee County sheriff’s deputy punching Fleming in the head. Community members gathered in downtown Flint Thursday night to stand in solidarity with those in Grand Rapids protesting the police killing of Lyoya. Protesters calling for justice flooded the streets in Grand Rapids after the video footage was released. Also: Public demands action after Flint man alleges township police, sheriff’s deputy used excessive forceFleming was the only person sitting down at Thursday’s rally.

FLINT, MI -- On the anniversary of George Floyde’s death, Black Lives Matter Flint leaders pressed that there is more work to do. A group of nearly two dozen people gathered Tuesday afternoon off Miller Road in Flint Township, where the first Flint-area Black Lives Matter event was held nearly a year ago following Floyd’s death. Later, people gathered at the Black Lives Matter mural at Martin Luther King Avenue and Fifth Street in Flint. The purpose of the events is to give reverence to George Floyd, said DeWaun Robinson, president of Black Lives Matter Flint. However, Johnie Franklin III, vice president of Black Lives Matter Flint, said Swanson’s acts have been a show for political attention.