Via the brilliant Dreisen Heath ’15:
Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot to death by a police officer on Saturday, August 9, in Ferguson, Missouri. Eyewitnesses say that when the last shots were fired, Brown had his hands up.
In honor and in solidarity with the late Michael Brown, we invite you to participate in a photographical moment that will capture the classic gesture of surrender to authority, which has now evolved into a defiant symbol across the nation.
To assure agency is properly given to the primary victims of unarmed violence and allies, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and “Don’t Shoot In My Name” are both two separate social media movements with different targeted groups of people, uniting under the same issue.
The Photo Event on Thursday will consist of three parts. One photo will capture us all in solidarity with one another to signify a unified Wesleyan Community. Another photo will capture the people who are primarily victims of these tragedies, people of color. We encourage all Affinity Groups on campus to partake in this one. The original “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” movement was formulated by the black residents/protestors in Ferguson, thus we should not take away from the originality and significance of this specific movement. A third photo will capture allies in solidarity with the black lives lost. Social media sites, such as Tumblr and Twitter have displayed the movement “Don’t Shoot in My Name”, in which allies write “Don’t Shoot” on the right hand and “In My Name” on the left hand, with their hands up. It is important that we are unified, while understanding and distinguishing the true and harsh lived realities of minorities in our society. Check out some of the links below for more information about the two movements:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/
la-na-hands-up-20140813-story. html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/94661698@N03/
https://twitter.com/ds4si/status/508717756980920320 This should take no more than 15 minutes, anticipating that everyone is on time (5:30 PM sharp!). The more people in solidarity, the better. There are power in numbers so, tell your friends, tell your professors, tell your colleagues, etc.
This is an unified moment in history that you do not want to miss out on!
Date: Tomorrow, September 11th, 2014
Time: 5:30PM
Place: Andrus Field (in front of Big White Podium in the back of Olin)
Link: Facebook