Black Lives Matter

The following video was part of Virtual Chapel on October 8, 2020. Jessica Lee ’21 created the video during the summer with the help of some of her peers, including Kamaru Oseni ’21, Kashetu Oseni ’21, and Chloe Abbruzzese ’22. “I wanted to use my voice to unite people and stand in solidarity in support of the Black Lives Matter movement,” says Lee.

 

 

The quotes below are excerpts from the Chapel service, during which the students shared their thoughts with the community.

 

“It takes much more than one person to bring widespread change. I recognized that in order to enact change and to proactively support the Black Lives Matter movement, I needed to use my voice and platform to unite others. I needed to use my voice to show the power we have in numbers because a single voice is powerful, not because of what it can do by itself, but because of how it can inspire other voices to speak out.

 

The Black Lives Matter video is still as relevant as it was in the summer. We must continue this fight and stand in solidarity alongside the Black community at SPS and beyond.  As we learned from Professor Kendi, being an antiracist means making an active effort to work against racism. We must continue to educate ourselves and others. It’s been long overdue. 

 

How can you use your platform and resources, whatever they may be, to fight against injustice?”

 

“To me, Black Lives Matter is the fight to denormalize racist policing, police brutality against black and brown people, and systemic racism as a whole. It’s the fight to denormalize that growing list of names in which sits Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and many more. It’s the fight to denormalize the fact that as a black dude I am genuinely more cautious, uncomfortable, and even fearful around police – the very same people I should feel safe around. It’s the fight to denormalize the conversation that black parents have to have with their kids about how to act around police in order to survive. It’s the fight to denormalize the loss of Black lives and the lack of justice which typically ensues.”

 

“This spring and summer finally pushed forth the many voices of BIPOC individuals in America that had not been listened to for far too long. It was a critical period, where I as a black girl reflected on many of my experiences at St. Paul’s, in the dance world, and in society overall. I questioned what steps I would take to progress from the many injustices of Black lives and work towards equity on large and small scales. Art shares ideas, messages, and feelings, playing a critical role in our culture through music, dance, etc. We know how important it is from our own lives and studies of humanities here at SPS.”