Students come together, rally in support of black Mizzou students

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Hundreds of Boston University students assembled Friday in unity with students at the University of Missouri, where outbursts of racial tension and violent threats have amassed after two administrators resigned.

Rain started to fall at around 3 p.m. when a group of students wearing all black gathered at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Granby Street, holding hands and waving signs as they walked to Marsh Plaza. At Marsh, about 300 others had already formed a semicircle, where Yasmin Younis, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, and TeAndrea Jackson, a junior in CAS, addressed the crowd with a megaphone.

Younis, a transfer student from the University of Missouri, told the crowd that she was thankful for the encouragement and unity that has been shown toward her former school.

“I am in awe of the support and the solidarity Mizzou has been receiving nationwide. It’s not just in the Midwest, it’s not just in Columbia, Missouri,” Younis said. “It’s happening everywhere.”

Jackson, who organized the event with Grace Kim, a junior in CAS, said students must set examples and enact change, no matter how long it takes. She said this harmony could only be achieved if the student body stands in unity with others.

“To the students of color at Mizzou, we, the students of color at Boston University, stand with you in solidarity,” Jackson said. “To students of color — to people of color everywhere — we stand with you.”

Jackson said she initially planned the demonstration because of the recent events at University of Missouri and the reactions that accrued on her Facebook timeline.

“First I was very happy that people knew about it and that people cared about it, but then I was like, ‘What else can we do?’” Jackson said.

The Facebook event had over 1,000 responses, which shocked Jackson, who said she only expected around 50 people to show up. When around 400 students linked arms in Marsh Plaza, shouting “M-i-z-z-o-u,” Jackson said she was proved wrong.

“Especially with the way things have been going elsewhere, we were able to unite on this one thing. It makes me very happy,” Jackson said. “So much still needs to be changed, and I’m definitely willing to pick up where everyone has left off.”

Kelsey Koger, a senior in CAS, said her experience at BU has been negative, citing Euro-centric history classes and predominantly white professors as a reason for her anger. She said coming together for events like the demonstration is important for the push toward equality. She also said that having a friend group of the same race is crucial for the movement.

“That is what it means to be black. You really need to find community with other people who have melanin. You can tell a white person all day what you go through, but they don’t know,” Koger said. “Unless they watched their mom go through it, they don’t know.”

Christina Lester, a junior in the College of Communication, shared the sentiment with Koger and said community is key for making change.

“The black community at BU is pretty small, but we try to stick together as much as we can,” Lester said. “It’s really important to me to have solidarity not only within ourselves, but as black college students across the country.”

Koger, a member of the People of Color Coalition and Umoja, BU’s black student union, said the racial tension and violence is not an isolated incident and, especially in times like these, it demands attention.

“It’s a problem and we need to address it,” Koger said. “It’s systemic.”