Newlyweds join Philadelphia protesters

By tsell on June 8, 2020

PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 30: Protestors march past City Hall during a demonstration over the death of Freddie Gray outside City Hall on April 30, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Freddie Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore’s west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)

A couple joins protesters after their wedding ceremony in a beautiful moment of love and solidarity

By Trent Sell

This past Saturday in Philadelphia, PA, hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters took to City Hall for peaceful protests. Two protesters stood out from the crowd, newlyweds. The married couple seized the moment and joined the Philadelphia protests right after their wedding ceremony.

In their full wedding attire, Kerry-Anne Gordon, 35, and Michael Gordon, 42, were cheered on as they joined the protesters. When the couple exited the Logan Hotel, they joined hands with one another for a moment of solidarity. In the video, they raise their hands as the crowd chants “Black Lives Matter.”

ABC News spoke with Kerry-Anne about that powerful moment. Here is what she had to say.

“Not only are we feeling the movement of the people … but I’m meeting my husband, on our wedding day, as a strong black man and a good representative of who we are as people, what our men are like, what our culture is like. It was just a very, very empowering moment for us considering all of this is happening at one moment in one time.”

Gordon told news outlets, “We all see this injustice. We all want to see this needle shift away from the status quo and … that made this day more memorable in ways.” Their wedding date was set for June 6th, but the couple decided to postpone their large wedding reception to 2021 because of the Coronavirus.

Gordon continued to explain, “That’s what the entire event out there was about. Of course, there was police and National Guard, but it was a peaceful protest. Everyone was so nice. That in itself showed what the movement can be and for us to be a part of that, it’s a positive thing.”