TACOMA, Wash. — For a group of high school students in Tacoma, Juneteenth is taking on a whole new meaning.
Students from Lincoln High School have planned a peaceful protest Friday as Black Lives Matter demonstrations continue across the country.
The protest will start at noon at Wapato Park in Tacoma. From there demonstrators will take their peaceful march to the streets.
Theodore Rollins will soon be a senior at Lincoln High School. As one of the organizers of the "Stop Killing Us" march, he said he wants their message to be loud and clear.
"We are tired, this doesn't only affect our moms, our dads, our grandparents, it's also affecting the youth," Rollins said. "This is our future, this is what we have to grow up in and I feel like if we just sit down and let it happen, then it is going to be a reoccurring cycle."
Organizers plan to speak before the march begins. Following the march demonstrators will meet back at Wapato Park where other students will be given the chance to speak.
"This year, as a black community we have really stepped up to show we are not playing no games," Rollins said. "This needs to stop, we are all equal."