Details released for Rise Up Against Racism event Sunday at Lower Burrell’s Kotecki Park

Details were released Friday for the Rise Up Against Racism event from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday in Lower Burrell’s Derek Kotecki Memorial Park.

Coordinated by Trista Armstrong, 17, of Upper Burrell, the free event, which she is calling an educational event and not a protest, will feature a lineup of speakers, food trucks, a moment of silence and a lantern release.

“I want to use this event as a platform to let the speakers’ voices be heard to educate people in the community about what is going on in our nation and how people of color are treated,” she said.

The event will be staged in the soccer field.

Organizers are encouraging social distancing between parties and wearing masks. Residents should bring chairs and blankets.

The speakers lineup as of Friday included Armstrong; Rev. Mitch Nickols, pastor of Bibleway Christian Fellowship Church in New Kensington, Jerry Jefferson, of World Overcomers Ministry in New Kensington, Lower Burrell Councilman Joe Grillo, Jon McCabe of Lower Burrell and others.

McCabe organized a Black Lives Matter protest in New Kensington last month.

“We are standing in solidarity with the BLM movement for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Antwon Rose, and all affected by systemic racism,” he said in a press release he issued for the event.

Donations will be collected for the NAACP, the Bukit Bail Fund of Pittsburgh, and the Innocence Project.