ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A video from the Albany protests is making the rounds of an older woman with a walker joining the crowd. The video gaining attention because the woman in the video seemed to be an unlikely ally for protesters.
For the past few weeks Anne Dorhamer’s read about the “Black Lives Matter” protests in Albany. Little did she know she’d find herself in the middle of one.
“Around the corner we hear all this noise and then we look down and it’s like, wow look at that. And I said I want to be in that, and I just shoved my walker out,” Dorhamer said.
The video of Dorhamer walking into the middle of the intersection in support of protesters as they took a knee has been shared thousands of times. But behind the video is a woman who’s had to have some difficult discussions with her children about racism.
“I’m always learning about ways that I’m taking my white privilege for granted. So the people to talk to about it are people of color,” Dorhamer said.
Dorhamer has three bi-racial sons. Her son James Lawitz said he’s discussed his experience with racism with his mom more than once. He recounted a time as a teenager he told his mom he was racially profiled one night after a string of car break-ins in their neighborhood.
“I was just walking home. I had my hoodie on … just walking home by myself and a cop car pulled up on me and was basically harassing me,” Lawitz said.
While Lawitz knows his parents support him and his siblings, seeing the video and reactions that have followed make him feel proud.
“The best way to describe her would be one of a kind,” Lawitz said.
Dorhamer said it’s not her voice that needs to be heard, but those who have been oppressed far too long.
“If it is heartening that some old white lady joined the protest, well that’s great. I’m happy about that. Only thing is I wished they walked a little bit slower because I would have gone farther,” Dorhamer said.