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Long-time US campaigner hopes wave of protests will finally bring lasting change
The protests which erupted after the killing of George Floyd have been unprecedented in their scale across America. The nation’s largest cities have seen many of these demonstrations before, yet still things stay the same. Filmmaker Jon Lowenstein has spent time following Jedidiah Brown, a long-standing campaigner and advocate from Chicago’s South Side, who now runs an activist group spanning several cities.
He’s hoping – finally – for change.
HuffPost Highline
And So Jedidiah Brown Gave All of Himself to the City He Loved
HIS FAITH IN HIMSELF AND HIS CITY LOST, JEDIDIAH BROWN DROVE OFF THE CURB OF LAKE SHORE DRIVE, RATTLED DOWN A SET OF STAIRS AND BRAKED FEET FROM THE DROP INTO LAKE MICHIGAN. It was a warm Sunday this February, and the afternoon tourists and joggers across from Grant Park kept moving around the vehicle in their midst. Alone inside his car, Jedidiah wept. On the phone docked to his dashboard, the 30-year-old Chicago activist and Baptist minister set a gospel song to repeat and started recording on Facebook Live. He begged forgiveness for giving up and cursed the city that he loved but had robbed him of everything. “Every relationship I had, I lost it because I was too busy fighting for y’all,” he sobbed. “I’ve only lost because of y’all.” Then he pressed a Glock 19 to his temple.
