The protesters met at 11:30 a.m. on the first floor of the Ferguson Center and silently made their way to the second floor. They then spread out around the entirety of the dining area, standing or sitting for about 30 minutes. Some participants held signs, while some chose to simply stand in solidarity with the movement. The majority of protestors were dressed in black attire.
Participants then moved to the second floor entrance of the Ferguson Center and lay down for a 4.5- minute moment of silence to recognize the 4.5 hours that 18-year-old Brown’s body lay dead on the street of a neighborhood in Ferguson, Missouri.
Kristin Alexx Lane, a junior majoring in telecommunication and film who helped to organize the event, held a sign that read, “When will society respect the humanity of all people?”
Lane said this protest was especially meaningful to her because, as a native of St. Louis, the ongoing events in Ferguson are very close to her heart.
“This was important for me being that St. Louis is my hometown,” she said. “I wanted to figure out a way to support this right now, in this moment.”
Lane said it was important to her to be able to participate in a movement like this at the University, which is why she decided to help organize the event.
“We just wanted to bring something to this campus,” she said.
Chyna Jones, a sophomore majoring in marketing and public relations, said the event was important to her as a symbol of solidarity among people on this campus and across the country.
“It’s important for me to do stuff like this to make sure people like me know there are more of us out there,” she said. “I wanted to show that we support each other.”
Fallan Frank, a junior majoring in management and African American studies, said the protest was especially important because without people coming together to take action against injustice, necessary changes in society won’t occur.
“It’s our obligation to stand up,” she said.
Among the signs held by protesters, many featured quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.
“A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” one sign read. This quote, which King wrote in a letter from a Birmingham jail, was seen and heard many times throughout the protest, and it is one that Frank said inspired her to help organize Wednesday’s protest.
Frank also held a sign etched with names of the many black lives that have been lost to violence, including Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.
Estelle Maye, a junior majoring in human development, said she was inspired to join Wednesday’s protest because her uncle was killed by a police officer when she was young and Brown’s death made her realize it was not an isolated event.
Maye said she also attended the protest out of fear for her son, a black male just like Brown.
“One day he will be a teenager, and I just never want to have to encounter anything such as this,” she said.
Amber Patterson, a senior majoring in public relations and marketing, said she attended the protest to recognize the importance of the lives of black people in the United States.
“This whole movement is about that black men and black lives matter,” she said. “You can’t just sweep it under the rug. You can’t just hide it. It’s important that people know that it matters that Mike Brown died. We are trying to spark a change.”
Jaquan Howard, a senior majoring in health science, said he attended the protest to take a stand for justice for Brown and his family.
“It’s not about race,” he said. “It’s just about justice.”
