WASHINGTON — The Commitment March drew thousands of people to Black Lives Matter Plaza Friday.
17-year-old Keith Sampson and his family traveled from Philadelphia to BLM Plaza for the first time ever.
Sampson said his experience seeing so many passionate, enthusiastic, and hopeful inspired him.
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“It makes me proud to be black,” he said.
Sampson said the experience reminded him of his aspirations.
"To become somebody big who can benefit my people and to become somebody inspirational that my community can look up to,” he said.
His mentor Darnell Holmes said he was excited to show Sampson the plaza.
"This is educational,” he said. “He's never been to DC and seen this type of thing."
Sampson’s mother, Lashawn Williams, added she was encouraged to see her son be so passionate about the well-being of his community.
"It means I have been doing my job,” he says. “He's been vocal throughout this entire year and this right here puts him in the middle of it. It lets him see that people do care and people are doing something about it.”
The crowd that gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza Friday was at times almost as big as the crowd that gathered at the location the night before to protest President Donald Trump's Republican National Convention speech.
On Thursday, hundreds of people at the plaza participated in protests against the President's policies.