Tuesday, March 19, 2024

HandsUpMSU seeks to move beyond hashtag

March 25, 2015

But as the protests regarding the shooting death of Michael Brown — a young black man from Ferguson, Missouri, who was shot by a white police officer — begin to wane, the group is working to keep the message alive.

HandsUpMSU initially began protesting in December in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.

“It was people who were just as passionate about the movement as we are, and they stuck with us from start to finish,” interior design junior Tierra Nelson said.

Nelson described HandsUpMSU as a reflection of what goes on in the community and country.

“(It’s) like the Black Lives Matter campaign,” Nelson said. “Many African-American men and women were being killed, and that sparked something here on campus that we thought needed to be addressed at that exact moment.”

HandsUpMSU has also held die-ins, similar to a sit-in demonstration and representative of those who have died on the streets, where protesters simulate being dead.

Interdisciplinary studies in social science junior Alexandria Vaughn is still troubled by memories of a die-in HandsUpMSU she participated in at Breslin Center.

“People were very hostile, and I had a man walk up to me and tell me to ‘get a f------ job and move out the way,’” Vaughn said. “You hear about people saying racist things, and you know that it happens, but it’s a really, really different thing when they’re saying it to you. You’re just looking at them like ‘Wow, they had the nerve to say that thing to my face.’”

Comparative cultures and politics senior France-Elvie Banda said while most of the onlookers were going to watch black athletes in a basketball game, they didn’t stop to think consider the larger issues addressed at the protest.

“That’s a real reflection of the relationship, the racial relationships we have on the campus,” Banda said.

Banda said racial tensions between students at MSU go unrecognized because it’s not as prominent as a shooting, a hanging or a choke hold.

Banda added students should be aware of their privilege and the way it affects minorities.

“Be cognizant, be aware of the jokes that you say, however you want to qualify what a joke is,” Banda said. “Be cognizant of the opinions that you have and the things that you share and, most importantly, the things that you ignore because ultimately the things that you choose to ignore are the things that you support.”

Discussion

Share and discuss “HandsUpMSU seeks to move beyond hashtag” on social media.