Rice students hold demonstration in solidarity with black women

By Anita Alem     10/31/15 8:15am

Rice students held a demonstration in the academic quad to show support of black females following an incident of a school sheriff throwing and dragging a black female student at Spring Valley High School.

From noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, students held signs bearing statements such as “Black female lives matter” and black women linked arms in front of Willy’s Statue. Several students also performed spoken word, sang and wrote cards to the female who was thrown by the officer, as well as her friend who filmed the event and has been charged with disrupting school, a misdemeanor in South Carolina. About 80 students were in attendance, including black males, females and allies who were both students and professors.

The main organizers of the event were Martel College senior Chavonte Wright and Wiess senior Blaque Robinson. At the close of the event, Robinson said a few words to summarize.

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“We will not just be angry women,” Robinson said. “We will not just be your booty-popping party girl. We will not just be the girl you have sex with to see what black ass is like. We are black women and we are human.”

Robinson said she wanted students in attendance to not walk away having finished supporting black women for the day, but to continue to recognize black women.

“Thank the black women who cook your food and clean your room,” Robinson said. “Don’t just walk by like they don’t exist. Smile and say hello. Thank the black women administrators and staff who work behind the scenes to make sure your Rice experience is all that it can be.”

According to Director of Multicultural Affairs Catherine Clack, the Office of Multicultural Affairs provided the supplies for posters and cards, but was not involved in organizing the event itself, which was part of Wright and Robinson’s Activism Initiative under the OMA.

“This is a beautiful event [and] a worthy event,” Clack said. “I’m tremendously proud of Rice University for responding in the way that it has today, because this issue affects all of us. We need to all be aware and all care about what’s going on.”

Wright said she hoped the demonstration would not be seen as a response to an isolated case of police brutality.

“The purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement is to call attention to underlying issues in this country that are produced by racism, capitalism and patriarchy, and how those come to victimize black people more than [they do] any other demographic,” Wright said.

Videos of the incident at Spring Valley High School have gone viral since they were first released on Monday night. According to recent reports, the student refused the teacher’s request to leave the classroom, following which a white sheriff’s deputy, who also served as a coach on the football team, was called in. The officer wrapped his arm around the student’s neck, flipped her out of her seat and dragged her across the floor. The officer has since been fired, with no charges; the charges against the two students have not been dropped. On Friday, approximately 100 students at the school staged a walk-out in support of the officer.

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