TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — About 50 people gathered on the lawn in front of the Old Florida Capitol building to remember the life and impact of Oluwatoyin Ruth Salau.
Close friends shed tears. Fellow activists held flowers. All of them joined in a vigil to keep Oluwatoyin's advocacy in the light.
Salau spent many of the last days of her 19-year life advocating for Black Lives Matter, and against police brutality. Fellow advocate and vigil organizer Trish Brown remembers their shared objectives.
"What we're fighting for is Black Liberation," said Brown. "What we're trying to get is control of the police, so those things Toyin fought with us side by side on."
Brown and others cried as they recalled search efforts for Toyin before police found her murdered on Monday Road last June.
"I want justice for Toyin," said Tallahassee Community Action Committee president Regina Joseph.
Now, community members and even city commissioners are calling on others to continue Toyin's fight.
"I think her story speaks to a system that has really failed a young black woman," said Matlow, "and I think seeing people come out and recognize that, and realize that, and keep pushing for changes in that system is what I'd like to see happen."
Matlow and members of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee remind those who mourn to turn their pain into action.
