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Black Lives Matter: Moving Forward

The Burr Magazine

April 7, 2021

Black Kent students share reaction to social movements that shaped summer of 2020

In Collaboration with Uhuru Magazine

Words by Zaria Johnson, Editor-in-Chief of Uhuru Magazine

Photos by Anna Lawrence with assistance from Maya Little, photographer for Uhuru Magazine

Black squares, raised fists and ACAB Twitter memes.

The Black Lives Matter movement has always been more than that.

Though the Black Lives Matter protests that spread across the nation during the summer of 2020 have long since been removed from headlines, front pages and newscasts, the fight for justice and an end to police brutality continue.

Movement leaders hold conversations discussing safety in Black communities, calls to action and demands for legislative change.

“I would just describe [Black Lives Matter] as a huge movement that has a lot of moving parts,” senior journalism major Alex Gray says. “It’s not just signing petitions, it’s not just going out and protesting. It’s also, like, checking your family, checking your closest friends. It’s making sure that people feel safe around you and around the people that you’re around.”

“It’s not just signing petitions, it’s not just going out and protesting. It’s also, like, checking your family, checking your closest friends. It’s making sure that people feel safe around you and around the people that you’re around,” Gray says.

The summer of 2020 highlighted a lot of non-Black allies showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, including protests held on Kent State’s campuses, and it is important that the community stays united to enact real change.

“Everything about it is just uplifting in my personal view, and people that [were] involved in it … were so passionate, because our lives are really being taken from us just, like, casually,” sophomore DMP major CeeJay Scott says. “When it comes to a group of people such as us Black people, we don’t really see justice, we really don’t see fairness, so I just hope overall the country just does better, and people actually start learning and waking up about these situations.”

“When it comes to a group of people such as us Black people, we don’t really see justice, we really don’t see fairness, so I just hope overall the country just does better, and people actually start learning and waking up about these situations,” Scott says.

There is still a long way to go for equality, and the first step is educating people about the meaning behind and goals of the movement, junior VCD major Mariah Johnson says.

“I just want it to get better, even if it’s just a little bit. I just want to keep having stepping stones to see things get better. People actually trying to be a part of it and see what’s actually going on because so many people just try to pretend like nothing’s happening. And there’s a lot happening. Even if it doesn’t affect them as a person or it doesn’t affect their life at all I feel they should still try to understand it,” Johnson says. “As someone who’s mixed it’s been kind of rough on my end just because some people treat me like, ‘Oh, you’re too, white to be black and too black to be white.’”

Black students and Black people should not have to live in fear. The Black experience during the 2020 protests and afterward is a lot more than a trendy hashtag. The movement is about protecting Black lives, and that needs to continue to be amplified.

“I hope that at some point, I don’t have to say that my life matters,” Gray says. “I would like it to be a known fact, and it’s not right now.”

Scroll down to hear Gray, Scott, Johnson and G.P. speak about the Black Lives Matter movement.

G.P., Digital Sciences Major, Senior

“When we have Black Lives Matter protests that are tearing down our cities and burning down stuff and rioting and tearing down our own communities. That’s not what the Black Lives Matter movement is and what it should represent. But, when we have peaceful protests and we say, ‘hey, police, can we denounce police brutality?” That is what the Black Lives Matter movement should be and what it should stand for.”

Alex Gray, Journalism Major, Senior

“I think that it’s been a very long road for me to kind of figure out where I fit within the Black Lives Matter movement as a journalist as a black journalist specifically. Even now there are times where I don’t know if I’m quote-unquote allowed to speak on things as they happen, or if my activism is best to use more with my writing.”

CeeJay Scott, Digital Media Productions Major, Sophomore

“How would you feel if somebody just was walking down the street, they see your child, and they decide just to kill them. How would you feel? That is basically what it is because even though we don’t really know these people personally, we see them as actual people because that’s what they are. They are people, and as humans, we automatically have empathy for others. And if somebody looks like me, and they’re in a bad position, I’m going to feel some type of way. Whether that’s I want to help them or whether that’s enraged because what happened to them.“

Mariah Johnson, VCD Major, Junior

“I was really happy to see so many people standing up for the Black Lives Matter movement. But I was also sad to see the other people who took advantage of all the craziness going on who were robbing stores and everything because I feel like that makes people think that’s what it’s about when that’s not what it’s about at all.”

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