By CONOR SHEA
Executive Editor
—
Wednesday Oct. 8 was more than just an average day on the Saint Rose campus green. Students on their way to class passed the quad with looks of intrigue as the Hands up Rally broadcast a message of social justice to Saint Rose. The rally was planned in response to the shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9 of this year in Ferguson, Missouri. Since the shooting of Brown by police officer Darren Wilson, citizens of Ferguson, and those across the nation, have held protests and rallies advocating for social justice.
Katherine Moss, the reference and access services librarian for the Neil Hellman Library, was among those who wanted to speak up on the issue. Moss planned the Hands up Rally with the help of Shai Butler, the Chief Diversity Officer for Saint Rose.
“I kept waiting for someone to step up and organize, and I didn’t feel it was my place as a white person,” said Moss on her role in organizing the rally.
From 11:30 a.m. to about 12:00 p.m. various guests spoke at a podium just outside the EAC, followed by a walk around the periphery of the campus on Madison Avenue.
Approximately 30 individuals came to the event initially, but as the speeches began passersby stopped to listen, bringing the total peak attendance closer to 50.
Simone Arrington, a senior at Saint Rose and representative of SPECTRUM, said she was glad that a large number of students were exposed to the important messages of the walk.
As a representative of SPECTRUM, Arrington’s primary role was to serve as an advocate and promote the rally to the student body.
“I was happy to see students passing by and actually stopping to see what was going on and what we had to say instead of just walking by,” said Arrington.
Brittany Terry, a senior at Saint Rose, said she partook in the rally because it’s something that was important to her personally.
“The number of stories similar to Mike Brown’s is outrageous, something needs to happen to induce change,” she said. “I believe the little things count tremendously in that sense,” Terry continued.
After the walk, attendees were invited to enter the Thelma P. Lally School of Education for a screening of “The Throwaways” in the Touhey Forum. According to the film’s website, this documentary explores “the mass incarceration and profiling of poor people of color.”
Arrington said the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the film, and its themes tied in well with the day’s events. “This documentary showed the reality of impoverished communities within miles of our campus and that was something Saint Rose students don’t see every day,” she said.
Moss said she put out a call to form the group “Saint Rose for Racial Justice” as her first step toward holding this rally. The newly founded group consists of about 35 people, a mixture of faculty, staff, administration, and students.
“When I suggested to Shai Butler that Saint Rose hold an event she suggested that I organize it, and that surprised me,” she said.
According to Moss, Butler believed that if she planned the rally herself it would be expected, and not have as much of an impact.
Moss scheduled two initial group meetings and hosted brainstorming sessions about how to structure an event in response to the events in Ferguson. These initial meetings took place on Sept. 11 and Sept. 15, and the ideas that were generated snowballed into the fully formed rally held last Wednesday.
“We sometimes got a little sidetracked, but we stopped ourselves from going on too many tangents because we feel this issue is critical and urgent. Another young man was shot and killed by police in Ferguson recently. We really need to address this,” said Moss on the future goals for the group.
Richard Smith, a local community advocate, attended the event as a guest speaker. In his comments Smith issued a call to action for students and members of the community to do more than sit idly by while social injustice happens around them.
Smith was contacted two weeks prior to the date of the Rally with an invitation from Shai Butler to speak. This was his first event at Saint Rose, but not his first in the Albany area.
“I have participated in different events organized by students at every other local college and was excited to finally show solidarity with the students at Saint Rose,” said Smith.
“The issue of police brutality, which the students focused on, is one that I am very passionate about,” he continued.
Simone Arrington displayed the same passion, and said, “I am so pleased with the rally’s and the workshop turnout, and I look forward to working with the Saint Rose for Racial Justice group again in the future.”
