Black Lives Matter

The Black Lives Matter movement will make its presence known this weekend at the 2015 Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota.

Ground zero for the protests: The race's finish line. And that has both organizers and participants upset.

Race organizers announced that they have been notified by the city of the protest, and one of the leaders of the organization's St. Paul chapter expects hundreds of protesters to show up.

"We want to do everything we can to force the change," said the protest leader, according to Outside Magazine. "I think we’ve waited long enough trying to do things a certain way that would appease the morals of white America, and now it's just time to do things differently and not be worried about getting the sympathy of white people."

Race organizers are planning to take steps to co-exist with the protest and allow the race to go off with as little interference or inconvenience as possible.

Runners, too, are upset that the protest will be raining on their experience, particularly at the finish line -- a celebratory landmark for all participants.

One founder of Minneapolis Running, an online community for Twin Cities runners, told Outside, "The people I've talked to think that this is not a productive way to get [the BLM] message out."

Black Lives Matter has said it will only cancel the protest if the marathon encourages the Department of Justice to investigate the St. Paul Police Department over abuses and unfair treatment to people of color.

Otherwise, protesters see the marathon as a prime opportunity to increase exposure for the issue.

"A lot of these runners are coming from places where they can keep black issues at an arm's length away," he said. "Maybe they don't even have to encounter any black people to deal with our realities. [The protest] is making them have to think about it."

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