Whether you want to call them "protests" or "riots," this week's unrest in Baltimore streets has prompted community leaders to discuss the future of demonstrations here in Boston.
"At the end of the day, how are you trying to change policy? Are you trying to change conditions? Is it voting registration, voting participation?" questioned CEO Darnell Williams of the Boston Urban League. "What is your end goal?"
Friday, Baltimore's state's attorney, Marilyn Mosby, announced six officers would be charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a man who suffered a fatal spinal injury while in the custody of Baltimore police.
People took to the streets, burning a local CVS and destroying multiple police vehicles, after Gray's funeral.
"The Urban League would never advocate that type of activism, where you're choosing violence to get a positive outcome," said Williams. "That's not the way it works."
But some believe Monday's unrest led to the arrest of the officers. Boston NAACP President Michael Curry disagrees.
"What led to his outcome is the election of a state's attorney that knows our struggle, that knows the struggle of people in Roxbury and the struggle of people in Baltimore," said Curry.
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The two organizations will continue brainstorming and preparing a training seminar to show protesters how to correctly demonstrate in Boston, to get the same outcome as Baltimore.
"We want justice, but we want the system to allow an opportunity to be heard in our case," said Curry.
