#BL ACKLIVESMAT TER
‘The longer we continue to be silent about these issues,
the more black bodies will be laid to rest.
We march here today to be visible,
to show the world that we are fed up.’
— nicole dodier, student activist
McGrew, who is African-American, shared that she is
from Dallas and that she knew many of the officers shot
the evening of July 7 at a rally in protest of police violence
against black people, calling the deaths by sniper “another
tragedy.”
At the July 8 vigil, McGrew asked people to no longer
stay silent or hold their opinions to themselves. “Today, I
set a new standard,” she said. “Defy the odds and step up.”
She called on the audience to act as leaders in the
community to be a voice of reason, “regardless of the
obstacles that may be against you. I need you to view this
challenge as an opportunity.”
She condemned further violence and said that this is an
opportunity to stand together instead of standing divided.
“Black lives matter,” McGrew said. “White lives
matter. Brown lives matter. Everybody’s lives matter today
because after last night, everyone can become a statistic.”
As she finished her speech, she prayed for the group
present, for the community and for the nation as a whole,
and silence fell on the amphitheater as the people present
honored the lives lost to violence.
Student activist and previous co-director of the UO
Black Student Union Nicole Dodier then spoke to the
crowd, saying, “The longer we continue to be silent about
these issues, the more black bodies will be laid to rest.
We march here today to be visible, to show the world that
we are fed up.”
She said action must be taken to resolve police violence
against the black community.
“As I scroll down social media, I see a lot of backlash
about our movement, folks saying that all lives matter.
However, what many people fail to realize is that all lives
cannot matter until the black community matters,” Dodier
said. “And we cannot fight these battles alone. We need
our allies to speak up and get behind us in leading the
change. I find these truths to be self-evident, that black
lives matter.”
Carter McKenzie, who attended the vigil, is a member
of SURJ Springfield-Eugene, a chapter of a national
network that organizes white people for racial justice in
solidarity with communities of color.
She and nine other members of SURJ Springfield-
Eugene attended the vigil, and McKenzie tells EW that
they were there to “support the amazing young black
leaders who organized this.”
McKenzie says she was moved by McGrew’s words.
“She spoke of positive agents of change,” McKenzie says.
“She was really saying, ‘We need to do the work with
our hearts open and with resolve, to not just react but act
thoughtfully.’”
After the vigil, the crowd marched down 13th Avenue
through campus, crying out, “Black lives matter!” and
“United we stand, divided we fall” while carrying signs.
Members of the crowd held pictures of black men and
women slain by police officers and placed the photos on
Hamilton Hall lawn to memorialize those killed.
At the intersection of Agate Street and 13th, organizers
passed the megaphone to audience members, who shared
their thoughts with the crowd.
Kayla Godowa-Tufti, a member of the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs, spoke in solidarity with the black
community.
“I feel the grief because they killed us, too,” she said.
“They wanted us dead, too. If all of us stand together, there
is no way this empire can ever survive. We need to stop the
killing. Everyone needs to stop killing each other.”
McKenzie tells EW that the Springfield-Eugene chapter
of SURJ started last summer after the Charleston church
massacre, in which a white man murdered nine men and
women of color. McKenzie’s family was in Charleston
when the shooting happened, and she says at that moment
she decided she had to work toward change.
“Our mission is calling people in,” she says. “There are
people who are white and are bothered by racism but don’t
know how to move forward. A common feeling is you think
you’ll say the wrong thing, but this is trying to break the
paralysis. This is hard work, and it’s risk taking and you’re
going to make mistakes. We’re working in partnership with
people of color as allies.”
McKenzie says she encourages people who want to
work toward racial justice to contact SURJ Springfield-
Eugene by emailing surj-info@googlegroups.com or
visiting its Facebook page. The group meets monthly.
She shares a quote from Anne Braden, a white anti-
racist activist who inspired the National SURJ movement:
“As long as people of color can be written off as
expendable, and therefore acceptable victims of the most
extreme inequities, none of the basic injustices of our
society will be addressed; they will only get worse.”
One of the simplest ways to stand up against gun
violence and police brutality is to contact your elected
officials and tell them how you feel: Senator Jeff Merkley
at merkley.senate.gov/contact or 202-224-3753; Senator
Ron Wyden at wyden.senate.gov/contact or 202-224-
5244; Representative Peter DeFazio at bit.ly/29BfhGt or
202-224-3121.
‘today, i set a new standard. defy the odds and step up.’
— kim mcgrew, youth pastor, powerhouse worship center
LEFT: MEMBERS OF THE
CROWD TAKE TURNS
SPEAKING ABOUT THEIR
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
WITH VIOLENCE AND RACISM
RIGHT: PROTESTERS PLANTED
PICTURES OF BLACK MEN AND
WOMEN LOST TO POLICE
VIOLENCE ON THE HAMILTON
LAWN ON THE UO CAMPUS
eugeneweekly.com • July 14, 2016
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