Jacksonville protests have included marches and chanting, but one Ponte Vedra woman took the mic in Jacksonville beach Thursday night to read her “demands.”
Christi Fort said she’s been an activist for years, but explained when she saw the video of George Floyd’s death -- she knew she had to so something. It all started with a piece of cardboard.
“Something changed in me -- not really changed -- but I kind of just woke up I guess," Fort said.
The school teacher has marched in Washington for issues like hunger and homelessness but believes the current challenge of racial injustice is something that can be fixed here and now.
“I really do feel like this has become our issue, and this is our moment," Fort said. "What’s exciting about it is that it really is a local level issue.”
On Thursday night, Fort took a piece of cardboard with the list of her reforms to the ‘Beaches Display of Unity’ protest.
They include different policies that can be put in place to hold Jacksonville law enforcement accountable -- such as zero tolerance for racist or sexist behavior, a whistleblower hotline to report this type of behavior and a mandate to force officers to report it.
Fort believes changes like these can remove bad cops from good departments.
“I can’t go in and change those guys' hearts," she said. "Ya’know I can’t make them be somebody different. But I think as citizens, as mayors, as sheriffs – the leaders over the police department – we can put things into place to stop people that have that kind of stuff in their hearts from being in a position to act on it.“
She encourages everyone to create their own list of reforms and bring them to the table.
Fort said her goal is to “do something every day." On Thursday, she was in Jacksonville Beach to share her ideas. Friday, she said she wants to write down those ideas in an open letter to Mayor Lenny Curry, Sheriff Mike Williams and whoever else will listen.