‘Love is action’: Day of Resistance/Stop Cop City rally held along Beltline

Mary Hooks of the Movement for Black Lives (above) also addressed the crowd during the Stop Cop City rally on Saturday. “This is not a time for us to be dismayed or to be afraid,” Hooks said. Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta VoiceBelkis Teran walked over to the microphone to face nearly 100 people. Then she spoke. On Saturday, Jan. 18, along the stretch of the Atlanta Beltline closest to the Old Fourth Ward skatepark, the mother of the late Esteban “Tortugita” Paez Teran shouted “Viva, viva Tortuguita” and “Stop Cop City.” Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta VoiceTeran, currently residing in Panama, flew to Atlanta this weekend to speak at what was being billed as a “Day of Resistance” rally about having faith in the human race and believing that people can do what’s right if they work together. “Each one of you is important to me even if I don’t know your lives,” she said. “We have a shared purpose. We have to get strong, and the way to get strong is to heal.”& & Belkis said she has been receiving positive messages from people in Atlanta through her social media accounts and added that she is dedicating the...