Universiy of Toledo’s Black Student Union rallies against police brutality

The Black Student Union and the Iota Phi Theta fraternity held their third-annual Freedom March this past Friday, Aug. 28. The march was to honor the 52nd anniversary of the March on Washington and also to bring attention to police violence against African Americans.

The on-campus march began at 1 p.m. on the bike trail by Rocket Hall and ended at the front steps of the Student Union. It was then followed by speeches from UT student Akili Barnes, Washington Muhammed, Sigma Gamma Rho sorority members and ended with a speech from BSU President Lance Price.

“It is one thing to scroll in your phone and read the article about the Black Lives Matter movement or some of these pretty bad things that have been going on in the news with different people being shot by the police,” Price said. “But when you can actually go, stand, march and be shoulder to shoulder with people that don’t necessarily look like you, they can teach you something and you can teach them the same way.”

The 1963 March on Washington was an event organized by civil rights activists to peacefully protest the treatment of African Americans by the police and society as a whole. Over 250,000 Americans attended the event and it was where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Isaiah Fitzhugh, Iota Phi Theta member, believes that it is important to step up and speak out against police brutality instead of just letting it happen.

“We want to bring people together; that’s basically our job,” Fitzhugh said. “You don’t have to be on the sidelines. You can be on the front lines speaking about it yourself and also give yourself self-awareness and know what you want to represent. To sit back is to let whatever happens to you, happen to you, and we don’t want that.”

Monique Trevs, a third-year nursing student, said she felt it is extremely important for people to take a stand for themselves and for others, because if they don’t, society will never be able to move forward towards equality.

“I think that we have a problem in our society,” Trevs said. “We hear every day about police brutality towards blacks and I think that it is getting out of hand.”

According to Price, the march changes with the times in order to stay relevant with social issues currently at large.

“The march has kind of evolved to fit whatever needs are presently taking place,” Price said. “Currently right now we are talking about police brutality, the event with Sandra Bland and a lot of these other social issues with African Americans here in our country.”

With the growing media coverage of police brutality against African Americans, Trevs said she feels something needs to be done about the issue.

“Something needs to change,” Trevs said. “People need to be more aware of what is going on so that hopefully we can fix it and finally have equality for people of every color.”