Loyola Students: Michael Brown PSA

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From: Mathew B Holloway December 5, 2014 10:50 PM

Dear Loyola Community,

As students at a university that prides itself on social justice and being men and women with and for others, we are devastated at the way in which the cases of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and countless others, were handled. We are disappointed in our justice system’s failure to bring these cases to trail, and law enforcement’s disregard at valuing all human lives equally. Thus, we have decided that we can no longer be silent and passive. We were so overwhelmed with frustration on the night of the Ferguson decision, that we held a march of solidarity throughout the uptown community. We started off with a small number of students from Tulane and Loyola, but by the end of the march we were 100+ strong chanting “I Am Mike Brown. You Are Mike Brown. We Are Michael Brown.”

Many more student flooded social media with reactions after no charges were brought against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, despite a video showing the chokehold of Eric Garner who helplessly gasped for air while stating his final words, “I can’t breathe” nine times. We have realized that the march alone is not enough: we need to organize and mobilize for change. We assembled a group of students who wanted to channel their anger and displeasure into an opportunity to unite our community. We are fed up with sitting idly and watching injustices occur not just around the nation, but within our own community. Inspired by the words of Edmund Burke, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing: we are committed to starting a movement for change on our campus, and we are starting now!

This Tuesday, we are hosting two events on campus to raise awareness of societal injustices and to begin moving from apathy to action. The first event will be held in the in front of Iggy at 12:30pm. At this event we, as the Loyola community, will stage a “die-in” to be in solidarity with not only protests all around the nation, but for the men and women who have lost their lives to police violence. The second event, a candlelight vigil and speak out, will be held in the evening at 7:00pm in front of the Iggy statue.

We would like to provide an opportunity for our community to reflect on their feelings surrounding these cases, and others, and how Loyola can become more integral part of the movement. We specifically chose this location for both events because St. Ignatius represents our university’s 100+ year commitment to equality and special concern for the poor and oppressed. We invite you to attend these events to not only show support for students who passionate about this issue, but also because it is who we are as university. Moments like this are opportunities to live up to our creeds and values. Remember, if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. #ourlivesmatter

In Peace,

Mathew Holloway, President, Black Student Union; Senator for College of Social Sciences

Shawn Kelly, President, Commuter Student Association

Camry Boudy, Vice President, Psychology Club; Justice, Student Government

Carlantha Roberts, Vice President, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority

Satyavati Patel, Students for Gender Equality; Free the Slaves; Wolf Pack Diversity Team

Angel Pittman, Free the Slaves

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