Holding signs that read “Black Lives Matter,” Boston University students and professors gathered at Marsh Plaza to demand university policies and practices that work to end racism within the BU community and beyond.
The rally, organized by the School of Social Work Student Organization, attracted approximately 200 BU community members, many of whom walked out of their Thursday afternoon classes to join the cause.
SSWSO hosted the event out of frustration regarding the persistent and horrific injustices sustained in the form of extreme police brutality and systemic racism, said SSWSO President Eunice Kwon.
Before the rally, the second-year graduate student in the School of Social Work wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press that the “Boston University Mass Exit for Black Lives Matter” was intended to “disrupt the daily routine of the university [and] publicly demonstrate solidarity for Black Lives Matter.”
At the beginning of the rally, the group read out the names of people who lost their lives due to police brutality, then the crowd paid their respects in a moment of silence.
As people were gathering, Massachusetts College of Art and Design students passed out pieces of cloth that they cut out prior to the rally — they asked the crowd to tie the pieces into one longer string, symbolizing a sense of unity and solidarity.
The group then listened to several speakers who presented poems and speeches; the first three speakers were Negin Talebelhosseini, a senior in the College of Communication, Kevin Smith, a senior in the College of Engineering, and Jordan Zepher, a senior in the School of Theology.
The final speaker, Ronald Richardson, spoke about the difference between the “All Lives Matter” and Black Lives Matter movements.
“We are here because all lives should matter,” the professor of African American Studies said during his speech. “But all lives do not matter in the United States. We are here because have we experiences that the larger population has not had.”
Between speeches, several students from SSWSO chanted phrases like “No Justice, No Peace!” and “Whose lives matter? Black lives matter!” through a megaphone.
Nandini Choudhury, another rally organizer, said after the rally that she had received a lot of positive feedback from both professors and students.
“We had so much support from professor and students who said they would walk out with us,” the second-year SSW graduate student said. “The actual BU administration [is who] we haven’t heard from yet.”
At the end of the walkout, organizers stated their demands for the university: that the university publish a formal statement of solidarity with Black Lives Matter and expand the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff from underrepresented groups.
After the walkout, several attendees said that although the rally was a good effort, more needs to be done to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Bejeana Breneville, a sophomore in the College of General Studies, said it is necessary for the movement to have support from allies.
“This is a conversation that is always happening,” she said. “We need to keep the conversation moving. We have our allies, and it is not just our community [that] speaks out for own own injustices. [Having] others here is really great.”
Sophie Dorsainvil-Johnson, a freshman in the School of Education, said students should support the movement beyond social media.
“It is important that you not only give support behind the screens, like on social media,” she said. “You also attend in person for the community to support the cause. It has a greater impact than sitting behind a computer screen and agreeing with a hashtag.”
Amran Hassan, a freshman at Simmons College, said conversations about race are most effective when a diverse group of people are discussing it.
“I go to a predominantly white school, so at my school,” Hassan said. “[the Black Lives Matter movement] is being talked about, but it is not as effective. Because we don’t have as many people of color, there is a lack of representation, and so many white female students don’t really see it as a problem.”
The School of Social Work is tied with Theology for the most hateful student body and faculty on campus. I have never interacted with any of them and come away with anything but anger.
NO AMERICAN COLLAGE should recognize a TERRORIST group or they should lose there TEACHING CREDENTIALS
BLM is not recognized because it is a terrorist group. The only activity they do is riot and shoot cops. If they were a legitimate group with a peaceful agenda to really try to make things better they would be working to get a peaceful relationship with law enforcement to make things better.