HUNDREDS are expected to gather in Abergavenny this evening for a peaceful protest as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The event in Bailey Park is part of a world-wide surge of action following the death of George Floyd - who died after a police officer knelt on his neck - in Minneapolis last month.

Organisers Amber Stratton, Mille Taylor and Isobel Holland, all aged 18 and students at Hereford Sixth Form, said they hope the town’s residents will turn up to support the call for everyone, regardless of race, to play their part in stamping out racism and bigotry.

“We have to show it’s time for change," said Ms Stratton, who said the rally had three aims - justice for victims of institutional racism, reformation of the UK's education system, and justice for railway worker Belly Mujinga, who died of coronavirus in April after she was allegedly spat at by a man who claimed he had coronavirus. Although British Transport Police decided not to press charges after tests found the man did not have the disease, the case is now being reviewed by the Crown Prosecution service.

South Wales Argus:

(L-R) Isobel Holland, Mille Taylor and Amber Stratton

Protestors at the event, which will begin at 6.30pm, will read the names of the victims who have died as the result of racism, and will hold an eight-minute silence – the same amount of time that officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Mr Floyd’s neck.

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Lexia Richardson, aged 16, is among those who will speak at the event, and will call for greater teaching of black history in UK schools.

Lexia, who is the only black girl in her year group at Crickhowell High School - which has 170 pupils - said: “I think Monmouthshire and Powys are what you could call old-fashioned places.

“I love it here and it has shaped me to be the person I am, but the diversity here is lacking.”

South Wales Argus:

Lexia Richardson

Ms Richardson, which she points out is the name of a Norwegian slave-master who “owned” her ancestors, took it upon herself to put a poster on the wall at her school celebrating Black History Month.

“We are so ready to celebrate the history of our country, apart from when that history involves black people,” she said.

For more information on the event - where social distancing will be in affect - visit https://www.facebook.com/events/270791077457448/