In the summer of 2020, we saw frequent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests across the nation, as a result of police brutality and the recent murders Black people by law enforcement. Between May 24, 2020 and August 22, 2020, there were over 10,600 demonstrations linked to the BLM movement in all 50 states (Kishi & Jones, 2020). Sources such as ACLED cite that about 95% of these involve peaceful protesters (2020). Over the months, media coverage incorrectly portrayed many of these protests and reported the demonstrations as violent. Throughout the summer, I traveled to Portland multiple times in order to protest in solidarity with the BLM movement. Before attending my first protest, I was terrified; I had heard accounts from the news and media sources about how destroyed the city of Portland had become, as well as acts of violence that were being committed. Within minutes of arriving to the protest, I realized that the media I had been consuming was propaganda at best, an attempt to make the movement and people of color seem like destructive, violent, terrifying criminals. Instead, I was met by organizers and demonstrators of all ages and backgrounds offering care and support. There were people providing free rides from local neighborhoods to the protest. There was free food, water, and donated snacks from local organizations and partners. Everyone I saw was wearing a mask and practicing safe Covid protocols. There was art, music, community building. It was a truly remarkable experience.
And then there was hate and violence from law enforcement. Demonstrators were pepper sprayed, chased, treated with physical force and anger. Throughout the summer, I (like many others) compared the treatment of BLM demonstrators to that of the protestors that were fighting for Covid restrictions to be lifted. Many of those protestors were armed with weapons and were still not treated with the same hate and malice that BLM protestors. It was an immediate example of what the BLM movement was fighting for: the same level of treatment from police for white and Black people. And yet, BLM protests continued to get the same misrepresentation in the media.
And so, we continued to protest. It was such a unique experience to be protesting as an ally of BLM during a public health crisis and worldwide pandemic. It felt at the time like history was being made, and maybe this time we as the dominant community would listen to Black people and begin to make changes. I saw this happen. Police and law enforcement was withdrawn from the school district I attended as a child. Diversity and inclusion workshops were being added to organizations for employees to learn from. More diversity and better representation was being added in the media. It was all so moving and motivating; I was doing my best to unlearn my internal biases, continue protesting and learning and educating myself. I was donating and buying products from marginalized communities, consuming media that was diverse and representative. I was having tough conversations with family and friends and deciding who in my life was willing to work on their ally-ship with me and who I needed to distance myself from. These are aspects I’m still incorporating to this day. I don’t want personally to lose the momentum that many of us had over the summer. I wanted to keep it going and working to make change.
It was an inspiring summer. But it was not always met with support. During this time I was interning with the Survivor Advocacy center on campus. I worked with a wonderful group of people who were all very open and engaged with BLM. We talked honestly about the protests we were attending, shared educational resources and content, and continued to motivate each other to practice ally-ship. One of the takeaways I got from our frequent conversations was that we all felt disappointed that there was no communication or support about the movement from leadership and administration on campus. Working from a trauma-informed mindset, we were worried about how this stance (or lack thereof) from the university would affect students of color, specifically Black students. Would they feel ignored, unheard? The lack of support was deafening. An email was sent out at the end of May that seemed to ignore the systematic nature of police brutality against Black people. While the email denounced the racism throughout the country, the line “most police are good, dedicated, under-paid and hard working men and women, who risk their lives every day for the well-being of all people. They deserve our thanks and respect and they should not be subject to public scorn because we are incapable of holding some police accountable to the laws of our country and communities simply because they wear a badge” read as tone-deaf and problematic. There was some talk of action, but the email itself came off as insincere to many of us. We were worried about how we could communicate with students that we were personally advocating for them and were here to support them, even if the communication from the university didn’t portray that.
The BLM movement was not talked about in my department. However, it seemed like groups and departments campus-wide had begun to take a stance and make a statement. The Office of Institutional Diversity collected all messages of support and resources from across OSU (2020). It was uplifting to see different departments making such statements in solidarity with the BLM movement. There were anti-racism resources, lecture series, articles, and other links that provided support and education for people of color and allies. This itself was inspiring to see, and I hope this continues going forward. Ideally, I wish this wasn’t hidden and was advertised more openly and communicated as such, like the original email was. Most of these resources I didn’t know about until I looked for them. This is frustrating, and it does a huge disservice to the students of color we are trying to support. I hope to see more institutions and employers taking meaningful action.
The BLM protests were extremely important and emblematic of a country that is systematically failing people of color. I hope this momentum continues on a national (and international) level. I hope we in the dominant community can continue to come together and make changes both internally and externally through dismantling systems of oppression. But I also hope there is more support from an organizational and administrative outlook. I am grateful that I participated in this historical movement. I hope we as a society do not have to continue to protest in this manner for the rights of Black people, but I am ready to fight again as an ally. I plan to bring this energy into any student affairs position I take in the future as well.
I would prefer not to use this scenario in class only because I call out multiple departments on campus for their response to the BLM movement.
References
Kishi, R., & Jones, S. (2020, September 3). Demonstrations & political violence in America: New data for summer 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2021, from https://acleddata.com/2020/09/03/demonstrations-political-violence-in-america-new-data-for-summer-2020/
Messages of Support, Resources, And Action from the Oregon State Community. (2020). Retrieved February 10, 2021, from https://diversity.oregonstate.edu/black-lives-matter
