Ferris State University alumni Tamara Yariman (HP ’06) and Myron Perry (EHS ’10) have worked with friend and Michigan State University alumna Natasha Miller to provide the Protega, a refreshment table for social justice protesters in Southwest Detroit, since the protests began there in June.
The Protega is funded exclusively by donations and was operated for more than 30 days throughout the summer to support Black Lives Matter protesters, as well as in October and November, to support those engaged in voting and related activism.
“We show up where we are needed,” said Yariman. “We don’t work for or with any specific organization. We determine where the need is for our resources, and we show up.”
The Protega and similar services provide critical support to those engaged in protests or waiting in voting lines, both of which can involve spending extended periods of time in locations where food and water is otherwise unavailable within walking distance. Yariman and other Protega volunteers also found that many people struggling with homelessness in protest locations also looked to the table as a resource in the intense heat of June and July.
Yariman, Miller and Perry with Protega volunteers.
“After a long day of not being able to breathe, signing up to put that mask in in 90-plus degree weather wasn’t easy but was way worth it,” said Yariman, who works as a dental hygienist. “To see all of those people come together and to feed them for free while they helped make change was the most rewarding of all.”