JSU students protest Ferguson grand jury inaction (5283 hits)
Jackson State University students participated in the nationwide “Hands Up Walkout” protest on the main campus in Jackson on Monday.
Gathering at 12:01 p.m. on Gibbs-Green Pedestrian Plaza, about 100 students peacefully marched abut 100 yards from the Student Center and lay down in silence, many with their hands up, in a protest organized by the JSU Student Government Association and JSU NAACP.
The students were protesting the no-true bill handed down by a Ferguson, Mo., grand jury in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18- year-old, by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.
The protest was called over the weekend, said SGA President Keonte Turner, in response to a nationwide call to action by Ferguson Action, a protest organization. It was organized by NAACP JSU Chapter President Henry Goss.
The students, many holding signs reading “I Am Black Excellence” and “Black Lives Matter,” marched with duct tape over their mouths to show how black voices had been silenced, Goss said. “We wanted the world to see that,” he said.
They marched to an exhibition area across from Reddix Hall where many lay down and were silent for four and a half minutes.
“The four and a half minutes of silence represented the four and a half hours Michael Brown lay on the ground (after he was shot),” Goss said.
“Black life is undervalued and it’s time for that to stop,” Goss said.
Photo cutline: Jackson State University students march to protest the Ferguson, Mo., grand jury inaction in the shooting death of Michael Brown, Dec. 1, 2014. (Photos by Charles A. Smith, JSU)
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Jackson State University, founded in 1877, is a historically black, high research activity university located in Jackson, the capital city of Mississippi. Jackson State’s nurturing academic environment challenges individuals to change lives through teaching, research and service. Officially designated as Mississippi’s Urban University, Jackson State continues to enhance the state, nation and world through comprehensive economic development, health-care, technological and educational initiatives. The only public university in the Jackson metropolitan area, Jackson State is located near downtown, with five satellite locations throughout the area. For more information, visit www.jsums.edu or call 601-979-2121.
