SACRAMENTO, Calif. — While solidarity from the community and the support of Reverend Al Sharpton have meant much to Stevante Clark, he continues to seek "justice and accountability" for the death of his brother, Stephon Clark.
The Rev. Al Sharpton joined former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson on stage Monday evening at the Guild Theater in Oak Park.
The St. HOPE Oak Park Speakers Series event was closed to news media, but people who attended the talk said Sharpton spoke about his past and what lead him into a life of fighting for civil rights.
Sharpton held a news conference earlier in the day, marking the death of Stephon Clark which happened exactly one year ago.
Stevante Clark, Clark's brother, attended Sharpton's Monday evening talk at the Guild. He told ABC10 after the event that he appreciates how supportive Sharpton has been of his family this entire past year, since his brother’s death.
“Everything the Reverend says hits home for me, because I feel like he understands where I come from a little bit,” Clark said. “I love the Reverend, you know — no matter what anybody says about him, I love him.”
Clark is grateful that the community has been coming together to honor his brother’s memory — especially on the one-year mark of his brother's death.
RELATED:
“My heart’s hurting still, tremendously, honestly,” said Clark, adding that these events are “nice and all that because they bring people together and honor my brother."
"At the same time, we still want the same thing: justice and accountability. Nothing has been done to these officers,” Clark added.
He remarked that this past Legacy Weekend, filled with events to honor Clark’s memory, went smoothly.
“I appreciate everybody who came out to uplift and unite [in] my brother’s name and bring the community together,” Clark said. “Everything went well for the weekend. At the same time, we still want justice and accountability.”
Asked what he thinks Monday night will bring, Clark said, “I’m not sure what’s going to happen for the rest of the evening. You know, I just hope whatever does happen, hopefully it’s peaceful, effective, and nobody gets hurt or anything like that.”
Clark said that people uniting around his brother’s memory brings him a small amount of comfort.
“We’re still healing,” Clark said. “We’re still healing.”
He planned on heading from the Guild Theater to the Meadowview community, where protesters marched in memory of Stephon Clark.
South Land Park neighbor Bernard Shaw also attended Sharpton's event. He said former mayor Johnson asked Sharpton about his early life as an activist and how that has lead him to where he is today.
"Where he started from, in the '60s, fighting for the movement back then with Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson, and to where we are right now," Shaw recounted. "To bring things forward, we just need to come together as Americans to fight for one cause - and that is justice, and that’s what [Sharpton] was really talking about today.”
“He’s bringing in not only the old, which is my generation, but he’s also bringing young people, women and other nationalities to come together to fight for one cause," Shaw said, "and the one cause is just to bring justice to black lives, black men being shot by police officers, and bring officers to justice if they do wrong.”
Follow the conversation on Facebook with Becca.
If you're viewing on the ABC10 App, tap here for multimedia.
________________________________________________________________
Stephon Clark was shot and killed by two Sacramento police officers on March 18, 2018. One year later we are catching up with some of the people who knew him. Anthony Pitts explains who Stephon was and what the last year has been like.