For about nine minutes, a circle of several dozen people—community members and leaders alike—stood silently in a circle in front of the Elgin police station. Many held signs bearing slogans calling for an end to racial discrimination or referencing people who have been killed by police. For an uncomfortably long period of time, the only sounds that could be heard was the chirping of birds and the cars driving down Main Street a block away. At the end, first the protest organizers, then the rest of the people gathered, each slowly, wordlessly raised a fist into the air. “Elgin, that’s a long ...