[Peace] showing up for racial justice / on campus December 2, 2015; 1pm

[Karen Medina]

On campus, there have been some very anti-black comments.
So the local "Showing Up for Racial Justice" groups are having an
event on Wednesday, December 2, 2015

"IN LOVE & SOLIDARITY,"
Allies and Accomplices for Black Revolution to Gather at UIUC Quad,
Sharing Love Notes for Black Students

[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign] We call on campus and
county communities to join us on December 2nd, at 1pm on the Main Quad
at UIUC as we express our love and solidarity for Black Students for
Revolution, Black Lives Matter Champaign-Urbana, and Black students on
campus.

We especially urge UIUC administration, faculty, and students who
profess to support Black students to show up for them in this act of
public support. This is particularly urgent in this historical moment
when white fascists nationwide are growing increasingly emboldened in
their attacks on Black lives. In this social climate, it is not enough
to simply be passively “non-racist.” This is a moment that requires us
to be actively and courageously anti-racist. We have invited the
President, Provost, Chancellor and Dean of the University of Illinois
UIUC campus to come as humble listeners and write love letters to
Black students on campus. As of November 26, Interim Chancellor
Barbara Wilson and Interim Provost Edward Feser have responded to our
invitation. Chancellor Wilson has expressed a commitment to attend the
event and has further expressed a desire to “encourage broad
participation.” Provost Feser responded, saying, “We need to speak
out,” and that he is going “to make every effort to be there.”


We will not sit idly by while white supremacists use intimidation,
fear tactics, and threats to try to silence the voices of Black people
fighting for their liberation, and by extension, our collective
liberation. We denounce and condemn the “Illinois White Student Union”
and are disappointed with the apathy on the part of UIUC to take
measures to ensure the safety of Black activists, students, faculty,
and staff. We are disgusted by the disingenuous excuse of “free
speech” used to defend white supremacist groups while those who align
themselves with such groups carry out attacks on Black people and
Black Lives Matter activists across the country.

We are a coalition of allies, accomplices, concerned students,
faculty, and community members from across the UIUC campus and the
towns of Urbana-Champaign that have come together to address the
recent backlash against Black student activists at the University of
Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

Visuals: On the Main Quad of the UIUC campus, allies, accomplices,
concerned students, faculty, and community members gather to read love
notes and encourage other campus and community members to come and
write love notes to Black students on campus. Love notes will be hung
after the event to serve as a strong reminder of the need to be
actively and courageously anti-racist.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/924493767636242/

For media inquiries, contact:

Megan Flowers [251-209-2615; floweme at gmail.com]


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