MIAMI, Fla. – Two separate rallies in downtown Miami were held Sunday, but both had the same goal: to end systemic racism and police brutality.
Many of the protesters said they will continue to protest until they see change.
“This is not my first protest and it won’t be my last,” said a woman named Melissa. “Until things change, we have to be out here protesting forever.”
The smaller group stopped traffic on Biscayne Boulevard by using American flags to spell out the world "resist" on the pavement.
Earlier in the day, nearly 200 people gathered in front of the Torch of Friendship, a 60-year-old monument erected as a welcoming beacon to the city's Latin American and Caribbean neighbors.
Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, joined that protest organized by several churches. Fulton is seeking an open seat for Miami-Dade County commissioner, District 1. Martin’s death in 2012 was what planted the seed for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Several politicians including Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle marched along with them, which stoked mixed feelings.
"It was beyond demonstrations today. It was black and white. It was just people who love God coming together today and that's basically what this is, people who love God and our community coming together to say we want peace and justice in our community," said Dwayne Richardson of the Greater Love Full Gospel Baptist Church
The group headed to the steps of the Miami-Dade Juvenile Courthouse then returned to the Torch of Friendship.
Later in the evening, one protester, a woman, said she was standing in an open lane of traffic on Biscayne Boulevard, and was hit by a car that did not stop. She was not taken to the hospital. It was a minor incident in an otherwise peaceful Sunday.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)