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St. Louis Students in Solidarity Records

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: LH-wua00402

The St. Louis Students in Solidarity Records consists of posters used in demonstrations including #HandsUpWalkOut, #FergusonOctober in 2014 and #InSolidaritywithMizzou in 2015. See statements below for more information.

From the St. Louis Students in Solidarity concerning #HandsUpWalkOut:

As students from Washington University and St. Louis University, we seek to amplify not only our voices but also the voices of our community in the call for justice for Mike Brown. We understand the position and influence of universities in the St. Louis community, and we will hold these institutions and ourselves accountable in this fight for justice. As young people and students, we see this as a fight we must join.

On Monday August 25th, students at St. Louis University and Washington University will walk out of classes to take a stand in the Mike Brown case and the underlying systemic injustices people of color face. At 12:10pm, Washington University students will gather and march from the Brookings archway, and at 1:00pm, St. Louis University students will gather at the clock tower on main campus.

We will walk out of class and gather on our campuses today to call for justice in the extrajudicial killing of Mike Brown. We march in silence in memory of Mike Brown, and through our silence, we speak our minds in the fight for local and global justice. As members of the St. Louis community, we come not as Washington University students or St. Louis University students but as citizens of St. Louis.

We intend this event to draw attention to the underlying issues that led to the death of Mike Brown and many others. Racial profiling and police brutality are practices that people of color across the country experience, and we refuse to tolerate it any longer.

While a candid and honest dialogue on race is vital in this country, those dialogues become stagnant without relevant and purposeful action. We expect the Saint Louis University and Washington University communities to actively engage with the greater St. Louis area by participating in local rallies, panels, protests, and grassroots events. We ask individuals to learn their rights in order to recognize and combat the abuses of power seen in those we pay to protect us.

We fully support the demands of the local community as listed by organizations such as the Organization for Black Struggle, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, and others. We call for a joint effort between the Boards of Trustees of Washington University, Saint Louis University, and other local institutions for higher learning to push for these demands.

We wish to support the Brown family while affirming the truth that this is part of a greater struggle against the injustice and oppression people of color face in the United States and the world. By gathering, we memorialize yet another unjust killing of a young black man and make clear our stance that students everywhere must act. We are engaging the issues of our day by stepping away from our computer screens and textbooks and transforming our thoughts into action. Today, we pay respect to the many lives extinguished by unnecessary police violence. Tomorrow, we will continue in the fight for justice and work to reaffirm the value of every single human life.

In Solidarity, Amee Azad – Stacey Banks – Hannah Davison – David Dwight IV – Samantha Gaitsch – Christian Gordon – Rachel Hoffman – Cameron Kinker – Brianna McCain – Madhanamenaka Pandian – Jonathan Pulphus, Jr. – Reuben Riggs – Kira Saks – Camille Scott – Corban Swain – Karisa Tavassoli – Christopher Walter, Jr.

From the St. Louis Students in Solidarity concerning #InSolidaritywithMizzou:

At Washington University in St. Louis, we stand in solidarity with students at the University of Missouri. We see the pain and trauma that students of color are experiencing, and we will continue to speak and act against the racist power structures of universities and police forces that reinforce white supremacy.

Death threats from white people towards people of color, and the trivialization of marginalized students’ fear, pain, and resilience, have been pervasive throughout the history of America’s educational institutions.

For students of color, an education should not mean enduring consistent discrimination, marginalization, and disregard from administrators.

The acts of hate and violence on the University of Missouri campus have been frighteningly reminiscent of incidents occurring on college campuses across the nation. Washington University’s campus is all too familiar with threatening yik yaks, unsupportive faculty, racist police forces, and an administration that has failed to proactively protect faculty, students, and staff of color. As we witness similar events unfold at the University of Missouri, Yale, and other campuses, we recognize that these are not isolated incidents. They indicate how the structures upholding this country, including higher education, fail marginalized peoples.

Last year, when the St. Louis region was at war with white supremacy, many Mizzou students left Columbia and joined the fight. Many more offered much-needed words of solidarity. Now, we stand ready to join and support Mizzou however we are needed.

Concerned Student 1950, we are proud of your radical resistance work and sacrifice that is not only making equitable change a possibility, but a reality. We love and support you.

#InSolidaritywithMizzou #WashUStandswithMizzou #BlackLivesMatter

Dates

  • Creation: 2014-2015

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open

Conditions Governing Use

Users of the collection must read and agree to abide by the rules and procedures set forth in the Materials Use Policies.

Providing access to materials does not constitute permission to publish or otherwise authorize use. All publication not covered by fair use or other exceptions is restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder, which may or may not be Washington University.

If you wish to publish or license Special Collections materials, please contact Special Collections to inquire about copyright status at (314) 935-5495 or spec@wumail.wustl.edu. (Publish means quotation in whole or in part in seminar or term papers, theses or dissertations, journal articles, monographs, books, digital forms, photographs, images, dramatic presentations, transcriptions, or any other form prepared for a limited or general public.)

Extent

4.00 linear feet

Biographical or Historical Information

Statement from St. Louis Students in Solidarity

We are a group of students representing universities throughout St. Louis. We are seeking justice for Mike Brown and other victims of racial profiling and police brutality. We will not stand for a society in which the people we pay to protect us act with unjust violence towards black people and other minorities. We join together as individuals deeply troubled by what we see in our communities, in the United States, and in the world.

We do not share common roots. We represent different student organizations. Our hometowns are not the same. We have different skin colors. What we do share is a mission to progress towards systematic changes in the political and economic systems that failed Mike Brown, the Ferguson community, and people of color everywhere. This is part of a greater struggle against the injustice and oppression people of color face in the United States and the world. As members of the St. Louis community, we act not only as students of our universities, but also as citizens of St. Louis.

We seek to support the demands of the local community as listed by organizations such as the Organization for Black Struggle, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, and others.

We stand in solidarity with the Ferguson community, and we will not back down. Saint Louis University | Washington University in St. Louis | Webster University | University of Missouri-St. Louis | Fontbonne University ​

Statement of Purpose

St. Louis Students in Solidarity began with the collaboration of Washington University in St. Louis and Saint Louis University students to organize marches on their respective campuses in honor of Michael Brown. After successful marches at both campuses, the group of organizing students at Washington University saw a need for continued conversation between institutions of higher learning and an urgency for students to become more involved in local and national conversations on race and injustice. After contacting several other St. Louis institutions, STL Students in Solidarity was formed to unite students across the city and mobilize in support of systemic change in the United States.

Source of Acquisition

Donation from Karisa Tavassoli, member and representative of St. Louis Student in Solidarity, October 31, 2014

Related Materials

https://stlstudentsinsolidarity.wordpress.com/

Processing Information

Processed by Sarah Schnuriger in July 2016.

Title
St. Louis Students in Solidarity Records
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
eng

Revision Statements

  • 2020 October 26: Resource record updated in ArchiveSpace by Sarah Schnuriger.

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Local History Collecting Area

Contact:
Miranda Rectenwald
Olin Library, 1 Brookings Drive
MSC 1061-141-B
St. Louis MO 63130 US
(314) 935-5495