The United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) organization has not ceased in their attempts to inform the Georgia State student body on the gentrification issues around the Turner Field community.
On Halloween night, USAS entered the University Commons dressed up in costumes that represented those involved and affected by the university’s actions.
“We’re here to collect as many petition signatures as possible to pressure President Becker to sit down with the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition,” said Asuma Elhuni, USAS member.
Protesters were dressed as ghosts, construction men, President Becker, and a graduating student, each with their own symbolism. The ghost of Becker represented his unattainable nature, when it comes to meeting with the Coalition to discuss the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).
“He [Becker] is kind of like a ghost. We can ever get a hold of him. He disappears and we can’t ever reach him,” said Patricio Rojas, USAS member.
The construction men with glasses covered in dollar signs are meant to signify the developers and their greed for money without a care for the community they’re impacting.
“Carter [the development company involved] has the capital to afford a CBA [community benefits agreement] with the neighborhoods so until they do, we wanted to poke fun at the greedy developer,” said Rojas.
A graduating student with blood on their hand was meant to symbolize students who pay the institution but don’t care about what its doing to the community, and finally, the last ghost among the protesters was used to symbolize the death of Panther Pride.
Before the event, the group also entered classrooms to acquire signatures and raise awareness. Elhuni said she believes that the organization is making leeway because some of the students had heard of the issues and were well informed.
“I feel like we’ve really progressed because before, when I used to come to people and say ‘hey, do you know what’s going on at Turner Field’, some people knew but they didn’t know the fact that the residents weren’t happy,” Elhuni said. “Now several people actually said ‘Yes, I’ve signed that’.”
On Nov. 3, Student Government Association (SGA) President Fortune Onwuzuruike held his periodic meeting with President Becker and discussed the issue of gentrification came up, on which Onwuzuruike said President Becker’s intention is not to displace the residents in the Turner Field community.
“President Becker said that he has met with the elected officials for those communities. He is looking forward to meeting with them this morning to clear up anything that may have not been understood, because the majority of the issue is not something Georgia State can do about it, it is a city of Atlanta issue.”
Onwuzuruike’s goal was to hear Becker’s side of the argument. As of right now, SGA does not have a stand on the movement.
“SGA is waiting to see how the meeting will turn out and we will follow up with both sides next week. Then we will decide on what we need to do depending on if the issues are not resolved,” Onwuzuruike said.
