Photo by Lahar Samantarai
In an effort to educate students on the Black Lives Matter movement, the Civic Engagement Center, the Auburn Research Library and the African American Studies of the university teamed up in a series of events centered around the cause.
On Tuesday, Sept. 21, speaker Bernard McCrary, organizer Jennifer Bodnar, and leader Aaron McClellan, gathered in a coffee talk held by the Civic Engagement Center and discussed the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Guest speaker Bernard McCrary, Director of Black Student Achievement at Georgia State, spoke about the meaning of Black Lives Matter and why the counterpart All Lives Matter may be seen as, “an offense response.”
“Essentially it [the Black Lives matter Movement] is a social movement to talk about specific issues that are affecting African-Americans in this country in regards to police brutality. It’s a little bit different than the movements from the 60’s, where it was mostly spearheaded by by men,” he said. “Now you have women who are saying that they are no longer going to be in the background [instead] we’re going to be in the forefront advocating for all these different things to show why black lives still matter.”
Director McCrary said “All Lives Matter”dismisses what the “Black Lives Matter” movement is about.
“We know that all lives matter, that’s kind of a given. When you say ‘black lives matter,’ that’s not to say that other lives don’t. What Black Lives Matter is saying is that our lives matter too, also.
He said the purpose of the movement is to shed attention to specific issues like police brutality, and how it’s mostly targeting the African-American community.
This was not the only time when the Black Lives Matter movement made its way on the Georgia State campus. Later in the week, on Sept. 22 a Black Lives Matter lecture was held in the recently renovated Auburn Research Library, in collaboration with the Georgia State African American Studies Department’s Black Student Alliance organization. The presentation was moved from the reading room to the auditorium, after students and guests filled seats and took to the floor
Guest lecturer Dr. Melina Abdullah, chair of the Pan-African Studies Department at California State University, currently serves on the Black Lives matter Leadership team and said the purpose of the movement is to work towards “a world where black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise”.
At the presentation Tiffany Roberts, a representative of the Atlanta Black Lives Matter, spoke the mandate of the Black Lives Matter movement created by the organizer of the Atlanta chapter, Mary Hooks.
“To avenge the suffering of our ancestors,
To earn the respect of the future generations,
And be willing to be transformed in the service of the work.”
Monteria Robinson, the mother of Jamarion Robinson, recounted the story of her son being shot at 95 times with 76 bullets successfully entering his body.
“He was struck in the back of his head [and] both his hands were shoot off. He was shot all down his arm, his entire upper and lower torso area, his groin, down his legs, to his shins, to his feet.”
Guests joined in a chant led by Dr. Abdullah and the audience contributed in a chant.
“It is our duty to fight for freedom,
It is our duty to win,
We must love and protect one another,
We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
Ivie Osaghae, president of Black Student Alliance, said it’s crucial to get students engaged in the conversation.
“I feel like often times we see Black Lives Matter through black twitter. Through the media, they’re starting to change the narrative of what it actually means,” she said.“So our whole purpose here is to really get it to its guiding point. And clear up any of the fog that may be around it and I think we really did that really well.”
Director McCrary, stated that although Georgia State is publicized as a diverse student population, often times what is taught in the classroom does not reflect everyday life.
“To not talk about it I think it kind of dismisses what’s happening around us, so we can’t turn a blind eye to that. We have to stay woke,” he said.
