Austin activists and students turned lemons into lemonade, so to speak.
After students accused a white homeowner near Huston-Tillotson University, a historic Texas HBCU, of harassing them and a professor over parking legally on her street, they threw a protest cookout.
However, the twist? It was steps from the woman’s home.
Organizers hatched the plan after an October 5 Instagram Reel went viral, showing the woman yelling, “This is our neighborhood,” at Black student Bri Nunn, who confronted her about her behavior.
The woman snapped, “We paid 1.5 million dollars for our house,” and mocked the University’s graduation rate with a false claim.
Over the weekend of October 10-11, crowds of students and supporters threw a barbecue protest in the public walkway next to the woman’s house before the party spilled into the street out front.
They broke out the coolers, folding tables, camp chairs, dominoes — and bullhorns.
“You bought a house, not our history. East Austin is ours,” several chanted as others held protest signs.
A video Austin activist Claren Williams shot and posted on October 12 captured the party atmosphere.
As music blared, he exclaimed, “We finally got some dominoes. Oh yeah, it’s going down now.”
During the cookout, a group broke into a coordinated line dance in the middle of the street.
The atmosphere may have been joyful, but it was far from lighthearted.
“Enough is enough,” Williams wrote in the video’s caption. “Let’s come together to display strength and love.”
He said he was fed up with racist taunts, attempts to silence discussion of slavery, gentrification, and systems that keep Black and brown people down.
A commenter on the Oct. 5 Instagram Reel that sparked the original controversy mentioned a vacant lot next to the woman’s house.
Now, Williams is raising funds to buy the lot and develop it into a community gathering place, with a $1 million goal.
So far, the fundraiser has raised about $1,700. In a GoFundMe, Williams wrote, “We want to take meaningful action by acquiring land that can serve a greater purpose.”
He added, “It is about ownership, dignity, Black history.”
According to local news outlet Fox 7, neighbors said police were called at various points throughout the weekend, but the protest remained peaceful.
