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Another day, another protest. This time the topic of outrage is Black Lives Matter in Appalachia at the side portico of Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. The evening was filled with personal accounts of racism, hope for the future and even an a capella performance.

The first speaker was Ada Woodson Adams, the widow of the first African-American graduate of Ohio University, Alvin C. Adams. She advocated for the continuance of the Black Lives Matter movement.

We chose to come back to our home where we were once chased away, Adams said.

Photo by Heather Willard

She continued to talk about the namesakes of her husband including Adams Hall and a scholarship from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and her lifetime of discrimination and activism.

In my lifetime I have been labeled colored, negro, African-American, Black American, person of color and more. I grew up in a racist and segregated world. I marched for civil rights in the 1960s in the south and walked in the white mans shoes all my life, Adams said.

Black Lives Matter is a shout out to look at a group that has been systematically and fundamentally disenfranchised in America. Anyone who says white lives matter, too are speaking from privilege.

Adams finished her speech with a raised fist and the iconic phrase Black Power.

Rev. Deborah Woolsey of the Church of the Good Shepherd spoke about her experience with being inspired by black people and how she quietly fights intolerance and supports anti-discriminatory businesses.

I let my money do the talking, Woosley explained.

Photo by Heather Willard

Sarah Garlington, an assistant professor at Ohio University and founder of the Athens chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) also spoke, and encouraged attendees to join the group to stay involved. Several others also gave speeches.

The evening was finished with a song performed by Megan Cameron, a singer in the local band called Amethystone, which has themes that echo those of the Black Lives Matter movement. History cannot be ignored. It shows us a pattern, she sang.

Excerpt from:
Appalachian residents advocate for Black Lives Matter - The New Political

Ohio University students and Athens residents gathered in front of Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium to rally for racial justice in Appalachia, as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Caitlyn McDaniel, a 2015 OU alumna and Athens resident, organized the rally after she heard rumors about the Ku Klux Klan making a resurgence in southeast Ohio.

I felt angry, she said. Appalachia is rich in culture and diversity. Negotiating what it means to be Appalachian took many years to unpack, and I feel like its being corrupted. We will not bow down to racism and threats.

Speakers addressed the crowd of approximately 100 people on College Green and shared stories about racism in their lives. One of the speakers was Ada Adams, who was introduced asa descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, a black slave from his home in Virginia.

I choose to label myself as a black woman, but my veins run with multicultural blood, Adams, a Nelsonville resident, said.

Adams recounted her story of leaving Athens after graduating from OU because she and her husband, Alvin C. Adams, could not find a job in the area as black people. Alvin Adams was the first black man to graduate from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in 1959. The two decided to move back to southeast Ohio after Adams Hall was named after Alvin.

Anyone who says white lives matter too is coming from a place of privilege, Adams said. They have not walked in my shoes.

Following a collection of speakers, Megan Cameron, a singer from the local band Amethystone, performed a song she wrote in November 2015 that has strong themes relating to the Black Lives Matter movement.

You think you know who I am based on who you see before you, she sang. History cannot be ignored. It shows us a pattern.

Cameron wrote the song as a call to action for white women to speak up for women of color.

Im used to performing, but I struggled because who am I, she said. I dont know what people of different cultures or races have gone through. It was important to sing though because white people need to have a voice and be part of the movement or else theyll just march in place.

Tom Riggs, a graduate program administrator for chemical and biomolecular engineering, came to the rally to support students and faculty of all races and cultures.

This was wonderful, he said. I came to make sure people know there are people here who know black lives matter indeed. This is another opportunity for people to show that were not going to sit idly and let people destroy what America is about.

McDaniel said she is proud to recognize multicultural students and citizens in the area.

There are so many people of color in Appalachia, but how often as a community do we celebrate that? she said.

Michael and Becca Lachman listen to speakers at a Black Lives Matter protest at Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 20, 2017.

@AbbeyMarshall

am877915@ohio.edu

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Activists rally for #BlackLivesMatter on College Green - The Post

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV)

A bus brawl is raising concerns with the local Black Lives Matter group. A video shows North Charleston High School students fighting and the chaos only grows when the police step in.

A teenage girl and five teenage boys were arrested Thursday, all charged with interfering with the operation of a school bus. Three of them are charged with assaulting an officer.

Police said they were called to break up a fight around 4:00 p.m. Thursday. The bus pulled off around Dobson Street and Remount Road.

RELATED: Mayor responds to North Charleston school bus incident

A video taken by a student shows portions of the incident, particularly the confrontation between a boy and two officers. It shows police struggling to restrain the boy moments before he was taken down and handcuffed. The boy shown is Vonshondas 15-year-old son. He is locked up at the juvenile detention center.

The first thing he says, mama I swear I did nothing, Vonshonda said.

On Friday, Vonshonda and the boys grandmother, Ann, said officers targeted the wrong student.

He was sitting in the front of the bus and he said he heard the kids with the commotion in the back and he brought it to the drivers attention to tell her they were back there fighting and thats when she called the police, Vonshonda said.

The police report said the situation escalated after some students fought each other, kicked the driver. Yelled profanities and then blocked officers from intervening. They said students grabbed them and ripped off their body cameras.

But Ann said she didnt see it that way. After seeing the video, she calls it abuse.

I was terrified, I was hurt, I was traumatized because the abuse that my grandson had to suffer, the cops kicking him in the groin and pulling him out of the seat, Ann said. It was really very upsetting to me.

Friday afternoon, the local Black Lives Matter group was protesting the incident and supporting the students families.

Ann said its a step back for them, but a learning lesson in more ways than one.

Our ministry is out there trying to teach the children that police are there to protect them, Ann said. But when something like this happens, you know, children have to mature, they have to grow in patience as well.

Three of the arrested students were released to their parents, but the others are expected in front of a judge on Tuesday.

Continue reading here:
Black Lives Matter concerned over differing stories in North Charleston school bus brawl - ABC NEWS 4

Organizers of the Black Lives Matter at School Day held Friday for the Rochester City School District say the event was created to reflect on the past, present and future of the civil rights movement and black lives in our country, and to encourage conversation about social justice and sustainable progress.

Rakia Hardaway is a social studies teacher at Edison Career and Technology High School, she said its important to have these events in schools to show that youth participation is essential.

"The civil rights movement, everyone tends to think of as just being adults, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. But the movement didnt get much notice until you had kids who stepped in and started protesting and getting arrested, writing the signs. So I think its exciting to see now we have a younger movement, younger kids are getting involved."

Tyiasha Jackson is a junior at Edison Tech, she said she was proud to see her school celebrate the Black Lives Matter movement and include student opinions.

"Children or even teens like us know that something isnt right. So I think that the district chose today to address us and hear us out and let us know theyre listening."

She said the day shows that students can share their opinions in a proactive way.

"I think it shows that we can address our opinion but in a positive way and talk about it with our teachers, because a lot of teachers are very supportive of today, celebrating us, addressing us, asking our opinion."

Events at Edison Career and Technology High School included jazz performances by students, documentary screenings and discussions and a mock Black Lives Matter protest during lunch.

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RCSD celebrates Black Lives Matter At School Day | WXXI News - WXXI News

Chicagos notorious violence sprees have made its way back to headlines for the heartbreaking deaths of three children over the course of only two days in 2017.

But while the city is suffering yet another unfortunate turn in its death toll, Philly-native Meek Mill has suggested that one particular organization step in on behalf of Chi-town.

On Instagram, the MMG rapper posted a photo of 11-year-old Takiya Holmes, one of the Chicago children who was recently struck by a stray bullet and fatally succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday (Feb. 14).

Though the photos of Holmes and two other children who have died from gun violence has swept local headlines in the city, Meek believes that Black Lives Matter, an organization and movement dedicated to ending violence and racism against Black citizens on a national and global level, should have more to say about the fatalities.

I think its about time for Black Lives Matter [to] focus on Chicago, he said in the caption. Its a lot of kids dying out there, and were putting all our focus on cops. RIP, Baby Girl. One of three little kids killed this week! CNN is not covering this news!

Some of Black Lives Matters objectives include bringing justice to Black, unarmed citizens killed by police and the treatment of Black citizens as a result of institutionalizedoppression. However, it has largely been criticized for what others believe is a mainstream, one-sided approach to the livelihood of Blacks and other minorities while ignoring Black-on-Black crime.

Though much of their efforts to combat violence in inner-city regions have largely gone ignored by major media outlets, Black Lives Matter also has home bases in cities like Chicago that work to dismantle systemic racism that influence issues such as gun and gang violence as well.

See Meek Mills message about Chi-towns city violence below.

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Meek Mill Believes Black Lives Matter Should Take on a New Focus - BET