Northglenn residents Alex Morgan said she was perfectly ready to stand aside and relinquish leadership of the Black Lives Matter walk she helped organize June 6.

“Our wishes are that we, the organizers, are not centered in this,” Morgan said. "We are white women and we are here to lend support to Black and Indigenous people of color. We acknowledge our own white privilege and if people of color want to step up, we will step aside at a moment's notice.”

A group of about 65 people gathered in Northglenn's E.B. Rains park on the windy Saturday morning, walking along Community Center Drive to the Northglenn Justice Center.

The walk was meant to show solidarity with demonstrators around the county seeking to promote racial justice in the wake of the police-related deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmad Arbery, Tony McDade in 2020 and Black people before that.

“We really wanted to make sure our neighborhood is represented, and we are encouraging people to attend events that have been organized by Black and indigenous people of color instead,” Morgan said. “But we did want to offer something locally and offer something smaller for people who are immune-compromised. They can make their voices heard without exposing themselves to too many people.”

They paused at the police station briefly, holding a silent vigil for ten minutes in grass in front of the building before walking back to the park. There, they held silence for another ten minutes before ending the protest and continuing back on their way.

Morgan said she and co-organizer Lauren Weatherly chose ten minutes on purpose. Other protests around the country have had protesters hold their silence for nine minutes, the amount of time a Minneapolis Police officer kneeling on George Floyd's neck.

“We felt that as white organizers it would have felt performative to do eight minutes and 46 seconds like other events are doing,” she said. “We decided it would be appropriate to do ten minutes to honor the individuals who have been murdered.”

It was a peaceful walk, with residents carrying signs and chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Say their names,” answered occasionally by car horn honks of support from passing drivers.

Northglenn City Councilors and police had initially planned to participate in the walk, but Morgan said she wanted to keep the walk separate from the city as much as possible. Instead of asking police to close the road between the park and Justice Center, protesters kept to the sidewalks.

“We really want this to be for residents,” Morgan said. “The mayor and other city officials agreed that it would be best for residents to be able to share their voices.”

City Councilor Katherine Goff joined the walk as a resident, she said.

“I think racism is systemic in our society and everyone needs to work on it, and include myself in that,” Goff said.