Dozens in Kenosha gather to remember the unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake

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KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Remembrances of the Kenosha unrest that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake continue tonight, on Aug. 24, with a slide presentation. Dozens gathered at Civic Center Park, which was ground zero in Aug. of 2020.

Two years later, Jacob Blake remains paralyzed from the waist down. Community activists say as he continues to fight, they're fighting too, for justice.

"No justice, no peace." a familiar chant was heard on the lawn outside the Kenosha County courthouse tonight. Two years later, the memories haven't gone away. This citizen journalist shared highlights of her collection to mark this anniversary. She took 2,000 photos during the unrest and the trial.

"This is the window that they broke and the flames that were coming out. You had all these trucks on fire, you had the courthouse now burning, and you had the downtown area now burnt. So there clearly was not enough law enforcement to contain the crowd or to contain the anger," said Veronica Kng, citizen journalist.

Anger has turned to action, disturbed by the inequities the Black and brown communities face, they're pushing for changes in the law. Two years later, some progress. Jacob Blake Senior points to the conviction in Breonna Taylor's untimely death.

"Does that make us lay down and be satisfied? No. We have to keep fighting. I'll fight 'til my grave," said Jacob Blake Senior.

Big Jake and other activists, now asking the justice department to reopen cases that had been cast aside during the Trump administration.

"Why can't we instead of making differences by the way we look, why can't we just bridge that? Why can't we? I don't get it but I'm not gonna stop trying to make it happen," said Jacob Blake Senior.

Reminders of what Kenosha went through still have a place downtown, and uptown.

"So when you go uptown you still see businesses that have signage from two years ago with messages of unity. People still have their 'Justice for Jacob Blake' signs up, you know just images of peace and symbols of peace and things of that nature," said Tanya McLean, Leaders of Kenosha executive director.

Mclean says Kenosha has seen some good and some bad over the last year, starting with interim police Chief Eric Larsen.

"Things are going well. He's very open to change and that is a very good thing unlike his predecessor who ruled with an iron fist," said McLean.

But with regards to a task force started by the mayor, McLean says nothing came of it.

"We never convened again. We've never heard what the outcomes were on our suggestions and we worked really, really hard on that," said McLean.

Black leaders organizing for communities which organized this event said bottom line -- they are continuing to hold the Blake family and the broader Kenosha communities in their hearts.

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