{"id":22654,"date":"2014-12-11T10:02:51","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T15:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=22654"},"modified":"2025-10-15T11:28:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T15:28:27","slug":"vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/","title":{"rendered":"Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, ‘whether innocent or guilty’"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 60 people held a vigil in the heart of Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s campus in early December for black people killed by police in America. Participants attracted by the Black Student Union’s \u201c#StandForFerguson\u201d appeal gathered quietly in the gray mist at Thomas Plaza as club advisor Celeste Thomas invited them to \u201cspeak in silence,\u201d showing their solidarity with presence.<\/p>\n

The vigil’s name refers to the death of Michael Brown, who was killed in August in Ferguson, Mo. His death and resulting protests in Missouri spurred the BSU to organize a demonstration in solidarity.<\/p>\n

A broadcasted gospel song contained these words, \u201cThere is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain.\u201d Five students stood in front of the circle, their mouths covered by duct tape, a chain at their feet. In their hands were white balloons, each bearing a name written in black marker.<\/p>\n

\"Kaltuma<\/a>
Kaltuma Hassan and Philip Watson read out names of black victims of police brutality.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Undergraduates Kaltuma Hassan and Philip Watson read short eulogies for each person’s name written on the balloons at the Dec. 2 vigil. \u201cOne black person is killed every 28 hours in America, whether innocent or guilty,\u201d stated Hassan. \u201cTrayvon Martin, killed February 26, 2012. Seventeen years old, shot in Sanford, Fla., allegedly shot in self defense by George Zimmerman.\u201d As they read through 18 names, Thomas went down the line of balloons, popping each as its name was read. \u201cDante Parker, killed August 12, 2014. Thirty-six years old. Tased to death. Killed by San Bernadino police department.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a black, 20-year-old male, I couldn’t help but think that every name that was read aloud could have been me,\u201d said BSU President Londen Wheeler, who was one of those holding balloons. \u201cI hope that the attendees were able to feel the discomfort and the disbelief. I also hope that this was an opportunity for the attendees to see that their voice \u2013 although this was a silent protest \u2013 against racist police brutality can help make a difference in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the reading, the gospel song was played again, and the five demonstrators picked up the chain at their feet and threw it over the rim of the plaza.<\/p>\n

History professor Mark Sawin attended to listen to the BSU and \u201csupport them and all my black students and colleagues who are finding ways to speak out.\u201d Acknowledging the privilege that being a straight white male affords him in society, he says \u201cwe need to tease apart and closely examine the privilege that allows incidents like this [the shooting of Michael Brown] to happen. There is deep fear in doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BSU<\/a>
Students faculty, and staff begin to congregate for the #StandForFerguson vigil on December 2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That fear, Sawin explained, is a product of advantaged people who do not recognize their privilege and become defensive in conversations about racial violence. He desires to \u201ccreate a society where we all work and benefit and live together. I’m horrified by the violence and the fear that permeates our society, so it’s time I start looking at the privilege that creates it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watson, a board member and treasurer of the BSU, said, \u201cI just hope that the vigil opened up a lot of peoples’ eyes and made them aware of what is occurring right in their backyards. The message was clear that this injustice cannot keep continuing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wheeler hopes that the EMU community will start talking about this issue openly; the BSU is working on more educational events about being black in America. \u201cThis is something that we can’t keep sugarcoating,\u201d said Wheeler. \u201cLet’s start a conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seminary faculty member David Evans said, \u201cMany leaders around the United States have called for a national conversation to deepen our understanding of race and our national history and why conflicts such as these should not surprise us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans is teaching a class titled \u201cRace and Religion in America.\u201d Held Jan. 4 to March 14, this online, two-credit course is aimed at deepening our understanding of our racial, religious and national identities. Registration is occurring now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be working to understand how race functions in different periods of time and in relationship to religion and nationalism. Race, religion and nationalism cannot be properly understood without each other. So we will discuss Native American religion, White religion, Mexican Catholicism, Black religion and Jewishness, amongst other identity categories.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About 60 people held a vigil in the heart of Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s campus in early December for black people killed by police in America. Participants attracted by the Black ... read more about Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, ‘whether innocent or guilty’<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":22661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,14715,5642,5623,4513],"tags":[14201,14817,9331,14676],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-22654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-campus-life","category-faculty-and-staff","category-special-programs","category-student-life","tag-david-evans","tag-londen-wheeler","tag-mark-metzler-sawin","tag-philip-watson"],"yoast_head":"\nVigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, 'whether innocent or guilty' - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, 'whether innocent or guilty' - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"About 60 people held a vigil in the heart of Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s campus in early December for black people killed by police in America. Participants attracted by the Black\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-11T15:02:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-15T15:28:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2014\/12\/BSU_Protest_Hagi_web2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/\",\"name\":\"Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, 'whether innocent or guilty' - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2014\/12\/BSU_Protest_Hagi_web2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-11T15:02:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-15T15:28:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2014\/12\/BSU_Protest_Hagi_web2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2014\/12\/BSU_Protest_Hagi_web2.jpg\",\"width\":610,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, ‘whether innocent or guilty’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, 'whether innocent or guilty' - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, 'whether innocent or guilty' - EMU News","og_description":"About 60 people held a vigil in the heart of Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s campus in early December for black people killed by police in America. Participants attracted by the Black","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2014-12-11T15:02:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-15T15:28:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":610,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2014\/12\/BSU_Protest_Hagi_web2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/","name":"Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, 'whether innocent or guilty' - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2014\/12\/BSU_Protest_Hagi_web2.jpg","datePublished":"2014-12-11T15:02:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-15T15:28:27+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2014\/12\/BSU_Protest_Hagi_web2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2014\/12\/BSU_Protest_Hagi_web2.jpg","width":610,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/vigil-held-to-protest-killing-of-a-black-person-every-28-hours-in-america-whether-innocent-or-guilty\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vigil held to protest killing of a black person every 28 hours in America, ‘whether innocent or guilty’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22654"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59902,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22654\/revisions\/59902"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22654"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=22654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}