Local back-to-back rallies support Black Lives Matter

About 100 Four Points protesters line RM 620 on June 5 in support of Black Lives Matter. The event was organized by Steiner Ranch residents Amrita Adhikary, Tonya Frederic and Shetal Patel. Photo courtesy Tonya Frederic.

Events spurred by Austin protests

By LESLEE BASSMAN, Four Points News

Now in her early-50s, Steiner Ranch resident Tonya Frederic hadn’t organized a protest in her life; that is, until last week.

Along with neighbors Shetal Patel and Amrita Adhikary, the longtime local was called to action by recent developments involving the May 25 death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis.

“A lot of us have been thinking about how we can show support for this movement,” Frederic said. 

“I was feeling helpless and I wanted to be doing something,” Patel said.

The three organizers sent out a message June 3 through local social media outlets and announced a protest the next day. In return, they received responses from residents desiring to participate in the rally. 

“We thought 10 (or) 15 people will come and we’ll stand there, feeling good that we did our part in history,” Patel said.

The group didn’t expect a large outcome given the quick event turnaround. However, Patel

said they were surprised to see about 150 protesters at the demonstration that began at the former Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf site near Randalls, with participants then moving to the Quinlan Park Road entrance to the subdivision.

“We only gave everyone one day’s notice and still had a great turnout, so that shows you how eager area residents are to speak up and lend their voices to the (Black Lives Matter) cause,” Frederic said.

Following the success of the June 4 rally within the Steiner Ranch borders, she said participants asked the organizers if they were holding a second event and seemed eager to join in at the high-trafficked intersection of RM 620 at RM 2222 on June 5, a protest that drew about another 100 participants.

“I was proud of our community,” Adhikary said. “I felt that when they see something wrong, they speak up. We feel like we live in a bubble and aren’t in touch with what the world’s problems are. But we are all in this together and it meant a lot to me that we were able to pull this off and got a great turnout.”

Both Patel and Adhikary said the coronavirus crisis may have been a factor in the success of the local protests since the contamination risk for individuals attending an Austin demonstration would be greater due to the larger crowds, with the events sometimes including violence.

“The one in Steiner made them feel a little safer to go out and be a part of something as opposed to going out to the University (of Texas) or the Capital and protesting,” Adhikary said of the parents with teens in attendance. “It just gave them a little more leeway to come out and be in their safe surroundings and speak up.”

Travis County law enforcement officials were contacted prior to the second protest and had a presence at the event, Frederic said.

“All of us that joined the protest could feel that we were doing something worthwhile and impactful in support of the black community,” she said. “It was a very positive experience.”

Adhikary said she initially intended to participate in a Sunday protest the previous weekend in Austin that was subsequently canceled but channeled that energy into a local effort.

“I felt a lot of people were wanting to do something,” she said. “A lot of my friends and their children were protesting online. I said, ‘this needs to be out there—we need to show support.’”

Adhikary said the group did, in fact, receive “a lot of support,” with motorists honking in favor of the program. 

“It felt good to be out there,” she said. “You just felt good to be a part of a solution, trying to raise a collective voice for some kind of change.”

Although Adhikary doesn’t expect a policy change to result immediately, she said, at a minimum, the action brings the problem of racial justice into a public discussion that needs to be addressed. 

“I do feel democracy means participating, getting people engaged,” Adhikary said of her political activism. “Right now we need to align with what is happening on the larger level.”

The events marked the first time Frederic could recall the community coming together for an organized demonstration out of the 21 years she has lived in Steiner Ranch. She said the timing was right and Adhikary said more supportive protests may happen in the future.

“Why did the whole country get up in arms now?” Frederic said. “I think, for the same reason. We just saw that terrible killing of George Floyd and we saw a whole movement start. We were inspired to join it. I think it was just the right set of circumstances.”

Four Points residents turn out for a June 4 protest in support of racial justice following the May death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis. With only a day’s notice, the event attracted about 200 local demonstrators to the Quinlan Park Road entrance to Steiner Ranch. Photo courtesy Amrita Adhikary
Four Points residents turn out for a June 4 protest in support of racial justice following the May death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis. With only a day’s notice, the event attracted about 200 local demonstrators to the Quinlan Park Road entrance to Steiner Ranch. Photo courtesy Tonya Frederic.
About 100 Four Points protesters line RM 620 on June 5 in support of Black Lives Matter. The event was organized by Steiner Ranch residents Amrita Adhikary, Tonya Frederic and Shetal Patel. Photo courtesy Tonya Frederic.
About 100 Four Points protesters line RM 620 on June 5 in support of Black Lives Matter. The event was organized by Steiner Ranch residents Amrita Adhikary, Tonya Frederic and Shetal Patel. Photo courtesy Amrita Adhikary.
Four Points residents turn out for a June 4 protest in support of racial justice following the May death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis. With only a day’s notice, the event attracted about 200 local demonstrators to the Quinlan Park Road entrance to Steiner Ranch. Photo courtesy Tonya Frederic.
Four Points residents turn out for a June 4 protest in support of racial justice following the May death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis. With only a day’s notice, the event attracted about 200 local demonstrators to the Quinlan Park Road entrance to Steiner Ranch. Photo courtesy Tonya Frederic.
Four Points residents turn out for a June 4 protest in support of racial justice following the May death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis. With only a day’s notice, the event attracted about 200 local demonstrators to the Quinlan Park Road entrance to Steiner Ranch. Contributed.
Four Points residents turn out for a June 4 protest in support of racial justice following the May death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis. With only a day’s notice, the event attracted about 200 local demonstrators to the Quinlan Park Road entrance to Steiner Ranch. Photo courtesy Shetal Patel.