A planned Fourth of July protest will go on as scheduled, it's organizer said Thursday.
But it's not exactly what it has been presented as, activist Steve Young said during a radio show that acted as his rebuttal to claims by the mayor that this was about Young and not the community.
"We want to do something for the black community," he said, talking about things like education and the worries of COVID-19 in reopening the city.
Young indicated that the promise to shut the city down was a way to get attention for the cause.
"Show up or shut up," Young said of Saturday. "Come with your masks, your voices and come in peace."
During an hourlong broadcast on We Have Gospel, Young brought on the attorney for the Black Men United Coalition, who presented a much different picture of what happened at Wednesday's meeting with Mayor Marty Small.
"What the coalition wants, what Brother Steve wants is a seat at the table," Brooklyn-based attorney Benjamin Pinczewski said on the radio program.
Small claimed he gave Young that opportunity Wednesday, but that instead Young tried to force the mayor out of the room.
But Pinczewski presented a much different version to BreakingAC.
"The mayor had an immediate hostility toward Steve and towards the members of the coalition that he had with him," Pinczewski said. "As soon as (Young) said he wanted to speak with them independently, the mayor said, 'If I'm not part of the meeting, there was no meeting.'"
Both sides agree that things ended before they started.
But Young and his attorney said that there was progress Wednesday, when they met with the leadership at the Hard Rock Casino.
"We some very proactive meetings yesterday," Young said.
Hard Rock partner Joe Jingoli and Chairman Jim Allen went through a memorandum of things Young wanted to see happen, talking about things they are already doing that address some, and explaining if something couldn't be done.
"They were so sincere about it," Pinczewski said. "I was floored, honestly."
He said meetings will continue with the Hard Rock, and he hopes that can move other casinos and businesses to follow suit.
"Now we can shame people into doing the right thing," Pinczewski said. "If the Hard Rock can do this, why can’t you make the commitment to people who live in the community and work in the community?”
