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Title
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Juneteenth Bike Ride for Racial Justice and Fundraiser for the Fairfax County NAACP
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Description
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These are images a grad student at George Mason took while participating in the Juneteenth Bike Ride for Racial Justice and Fundraiser for the Fairfax County NAACP. It started at Northside Social in Clarendon and ended at the Lincoln Memorial. Some of us continued on to Black Lives Matter Plaza afterwards.
**It is important to note that this was a safe, fun, easy protest for a mostly white, able group of riders to participate in. Many riders, myself included, enjoyed breakfast or coffee at the restaurant where it began. I feared the whole thing might be too performative, too white, too...something to be meaningful. Juneteenth was the day before, after all. But as we rode, it became clear that pedestrians, drivers, joggers, and other bikers appreciated our action as they honked their horns, raised their fists, and cheered. If nothing else, maybe staying visible and continuing to demand attention in public spaces can serve as a small but hopefully useful action to support of the greater racial and social justice work being done.**
Here is a description of the ride from the Facebook event page, edited to omit names of people I don't know and their virtual payment URLs:
"Join us for a 5 mile bike ride to honor the holiday, show community solidarity, and raise support for Fairfax NAACP's ongoing work for racial justice. The Fairfax NAACP president will give remarks.
Participants are encouraged to make a $20 donation to the Fairfax NAACP. The donations will be tracked here and the final amount will be posted then donated to the NAACP. The PayPal link for Fairfax County's NAACP is http://www.fairfaxnaacp.org. Thank you!
We'll meet at 11:00AM at the Northside Social parking lot in Clarendon then take off for the Lincoln Memorial promptly at 11:30 AM. This should be an easy 5 mile (roughly 25 minute, one way) ride, utilizing bike lanes, perfect for the whole family and riders at any level. A map of the route we plan to follow can be found at https://goo.gl/maps/QJhit8YJRPVDk38G9
This will be a socially distant event. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, participants are asked to maintain a distance of 6 feet from others and wear facial coverings as recommended by the CDC.
We encourage you wearing black for this event."
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Date
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20-06-2020
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Rights
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Copyright is held by item contributor.
