A crowd of about 250 blacks and whites marched peacefully in Huntsville Friday night to protest the deaths of black men in police custody and police officers killed protecting a similar march in Dallas.

The event was a compromise between city officials and Black Lives Matter activists. It began on Cleveland Avenue with a focus on black men killed by police and ended after a mile walk to police headquarters on Wheeler Avenue and its memorial for fallen officers.

At both venues, speakers spoke plainly and openly about how they feel and what they want each other to know.

"Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Say their names," march organizer Afu Okosun asked the crowd on Cleveland Avenue. "Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. They were our brothers."

"It saddens me to live in a community where I am genuinely loved," Okosun said, "but in every instance, in every interaction I have, I'm questioned of my character, I'm questioned of my motives, I'm questioned of my intellect, and I'm questioned of my value in being unapologetically Afu, which means being unapologetically black."

Police Chief Mark McMurray, who walked with the marchers, said outside police headquarters, that he, too, had "a difficult day" while swearing in 21 new police officers.

They were "the most diverse group of cadets ever put through an academy with over 50 percent minority represented," McMurray said, "and that brings our department to the most diverse it has ever been."

After their loved ones pinned on their badges, McMurray said, they were presented to the audience as Huntsville police officers for the first time.

"And then do you know what I did?" McMurray said. "I told them to put that black band on top of their badge.... Those officers had to turn around and tell their children and their mothers and fathers what that black band meant." It meant that any day they go to work, the chief said, they might not come home.

Earlier, Okosun said it is hard for blacks to talk to their white friends "for fear of being misunderstood or being taken out of context."

"The reality is, as I stand here, I'm looking at a crowd of people I honestly didn't know existed in Huntsville," Okosun said. "People that care enough to risk their time and safety - I mean, all the reports - to come out and support our community."

"I think that it's important if I want to voice my opinion on social media that I not just do it there, that I come out and put action behind what I'm saying," Kiara Potts of Huntsville said while waiting for the speakers.

"There's a lot of people on social media saying we need to stand, we need to make a difference, but as you see, it's only a handful of black people out here," said Cierra Thompson of New Market. "It's not just to say that black men who lost their lives matter, the cops who lost their lives matter, too. It shouldn't be a retaliation thing. We should all come together and pray and understand what we all need to do."

According to discussions on social media Friday, some people stayed away because the event became something other than solely a protest against the police-involved shootings of the two men this week.

Also walking were Mayor Tommy Battle and members of the City Council. They were there to support, Battle said, adding, "No politicians are speaking."

"It's a symbolic walk that we're all walking through this life together, and there's no reason making it harder than it is," McMurray said at police headquarters. "So we called it a unity walk, and I'm so proud to walk with you."

"All these communities around the country where civil unrest exists, it all starts with lack of trust," McMurray said. "You have trusted us tonight by coming out here, and I appreciate it. And we trust our community."