People in Tampa are calling for the youth to meet Saturday in Ybor City to let their voices be heard about the violence in our country.
The meeting will be in front of the Centro Ybor at 5:30 p.m. Hadiya Rodgers, 17, and her mother wanted to be a part of it. They encourage other people to join them.
“All lives matter, but right now at this point in time black lives matter also not to forget us,” Hadiya Rodgers said.
Hadiya Rodgers plans to express herself by holding up signs that say her feelings about seeing African American men killed in confrontations with law enforcement. Erika Rodgers wants the conversation to continue and for people to take a stand united.
"We just want our people to stop being killed. We want to be looked at and treated the same and not be fearful to get pulled over,” Erika Rodgers said.
Erika Rodgers does not want people to act out using violence like what happened in Dallas that left 5 police officers dead.
"Violence is never going to be the answer. Killing (is) senseless. Killing is not going to solve anything at all,” Erika Rodgers said.
Clearwater Officer Selena Hyppolite like Erika Rodgers is having conversations with her children about what is happening in the country. She said she speaks with her 8-year-old son about it.
"He was like mommy are the cops going to shoot me for being a black child and I literally grabbed him and was like oh my gosh no,” Officer Hyppolite said.
Officer Hyppolite is a community liason for the department. She builds relationships between officers and the community.
"I have kids that flick me off when I pass by and I will stop my car -get out with them and get on my knees and just be like why. I'm not a bad person. You're not a bad person. You should be able to come to me,” she said.
On Friday, she wore a mourning band over her badge, showing her support for the men and women in blue in Dallas. She said she saw so much support today from people here in the community.
“It's overwhelming and it's amazing to know that people out here still have our backs regardless and I just want everyone to know that we have theirs also,” Officer Hyppolite said.
