Black Students in Action protest police brutality and campus protest policy

Police brutality and its connection to racial oppression is still a controversial and startling reality in society today. On Monday, Feb. 20, the Black Students in Action group decided to advocate for victims of police brutality through protest.

Students in the Black Students in Action group stood in the D.J. Lombardo Student Center atrium holding signs quoting the last words of victims of police brutality.

Some examples of signs were: “I can’t breathe,” by Eric Gardner, age 43, July 17, 2014; “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting,” by Michael Brown, age 18, Aug. 9, 2014 and “What are you following me for?” by Trayvon Martin, age 17, Feb. 26, 2012.

Three students held the signs as students walked through the atrium. President of BSA, Emanuel Brown; said, “We are against brutality and want justice for the victims.”

Brown explained that this is still an issue that affects all black people and the BSA students want to see justice for the victims. The group held a similar event last year with a different title and wanted to recreate the event because of its prevalence in society.

Sophomore and Vice President of BSA, Zakiyyah Malik said the protest was important because, “We’ve done things like this before and got more negative responses than positive ones. This means there is more work to be done for racial tolerance and [to get people] to support communities different than their own.”

In addition to displaying signs in protest, Malik set up an area in the atrium for people to donate money to help the people of Flint, Michigan who are still dealing with the crisis of having an unclean water source. A flyer was posted on campus about helping the people of Flint 1,000 days ago. “1,000 Days” was the header on the new flyer and posted a call to action for students to donate to the Flint cause.

The BSA would like students to help in any way they can by donating water, giving a monetary donation or even donating plastic utensils so that Flint residents who do not have access to clean utensils can eat properly.

In addition to protesting police brutality, Brown said that the BSA was also protesting the actual protest policy that the Office of Student Engagement has in place. Students planning a protest must notify the office 48 hours in advance.

Brown said, “We felt that is unnecessary. It discourages student protesting.” He continued by saying that taking a stand against the protest policy added emphasis to what the group stands for as an organization.

The current policy on John Carroll’s website says, “In planning any protest or rally, there are two primary considerations that the University seeks to balance. First, the University is responsible for maintaining a safe and secure environment conducive to academic and other educational pursuits. Second, we seek to promote the University’s mission and values, which include open speech, assembly and expression.”

The protest policy also says that the protest must ensure the safety of both the protesting party and those not involved. The protest must not interfere with the everyday functions of the University and should not damage any University property.

Senior Director of Student Engagement, Kyle O’Dell, said the protest policy was known as the demonstration policy prior to the summer of 2016. Before the summer of 2016, the policy had last been revised in the summer of 2011. The revisions are done by JCU staff, faculty and students.

O’Dell said the 48 hour advance notice was put in place because, “The past policy asked for seven days advance notice for a campus demonstration and we also wanted to make sure the language in the policy was supportive of students voicing their concerns while also being mindful of the University’s policies.”

Sophomore Jill Millard saw the protest and said, “I totally support demonstrations on campus. We need to be able to voice our opinion.”

The protest ended after about an hour and students took the signs that they had been holding and taped them to the wall by the staircase leading down to the Schott Dining Hall. Malik said, “The names [of victims] need to be known and remembered because the list keeps growing.”

Brown said, “It’s still a big issue that affects people on campus. Our voice will be heard and we will stand proud to speak up for those who are no longer here to speak for themselves.”