This Man Is Walking 1,000 Miles, From Alabama to Minneapolis, to Protest Racial Injustice
Terry Willis is walking 1,000 miles to raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement.
He began the journey in Huntsville, Alabama and will stop when he reaches Minneapolis, where 46-year-old George Floyd was killed.
The 35-year-old father and business owner says he is “overwhelmed with the amount of love and support each city and state is showing me.”
A 35-year old Alabama man has pledged to walk 1,000 miles from his hometown of Huntsville to the site where George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis to raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement.
In what he calls his march for change, justice, and equality, Terry Willis began his trek on June 2, averaging about 40 to 50 miles each day. He’s already reached Indianapolis, Indiana, per Good Morning America.
For Willis, the journey is his personal form of protest, and he’s making stops in major U.S. cities along the way. “A lot of people are just fed up because they’re like, ‘Alright, enough is enough. You just murdered this man in front of the world on camera.’ That can’t happen,” Willis told local station WHNT News 19.
He admits that when he first thought about doing the walk, he shrugged the idea off. “I dismissed it almost immediately,” Willis told WTVF NewsChannel 5. “Then I kept thinking more, ‘What can I do that’s so extreme that it will make you listen?’”
He further explained that he feels “obligated” to make a difference—for the Black community, as well as his 7-year-old son, he explained on Facebook. “I see what’s going on and I understand why my people are mad,” he wrote. “In 1965, MLK marched to Selma for us to have the right to vote. In 2020, I Terry Willis will walk from Alabama to Minnesota for our right to be seen as equals. 1000+miles.”
Willis is fully sharing his two-week journey on social media, where he’s documenting his talks with reporters, as well as supporters who have joined him for part of the walk. “I’m overwhelmed with the amount of love and support each city and state is showing me,” Willis said. “It’s unbelievable. I never imagined anything of this magnitude.”
Because of the physical strain, Willis gives himself breaks before pushing forward with his goal—to have 1 million people marching with him once he arrives to Minneapolis. “That video was enough for me to realize that I have to do my part,” Willis said, per GMA. “We’ve done so much talking. I’m going to let my actions do the talking.”
Willis has put his business on pause to complete the march, so if you want to offer support, you can donate to his GoFundMe, a portion of which will go to charity.
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