Hundreds of UNC students lead protest against racism and in honor of Breonna Taylor
On what would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday, student groups from UNC-Chapel Hill gathered Friday afternoon to celebrate the memory of the African American woman killed by Kentucky police earlier this year.
Hundreds of UNC students, growing to about 1,000, filled the square by the Student and Academic Services Building on campus. Many were clad in purple to honor Taylor.
Organizers of the rally said it was “not a performance movement, but an abolition movement,” against what they call racist policing practices in America.
“Breonna Taylor could have been any one of us,” said Tamiya Troy, president of the UNC Black Student Movement and vice president of the UNC senior class.
The group marched across campus to UNC’s South Building, the chants of the movement echoing off academic buildings, screams of “No justice, no peace!” and “Say her name!”
“UNC would be nothing without our black ancestors, who built this university,” said Chris Suggs, senior class president on the Chapel Hill campus. “It’s time for UNC to acknowledge its compliance in white supremacist violence.”
The protesters then marched to Franklin Street next to the campus and gathered in front of the post office. Traffic was blocked off a few streets away as students filled the road.
Passing a bullhorn back and forth, young black students shared stories of being let down by the systems meant to protect them.
“I’m tired of this,” said Nelson White II, holding up a rubber bullet he said was fired at his face by Raleigh police during a downtown protest on Saturday. “This was fired indiscriminately into the crowd.”
The Chapel Hill march ended with a singing of “Happy Birthday” to Taylor.
Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery
Protests against police brutality and systemic racism have been held for more than a week across the nation, sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who laid face-down for nine minutes with the knee of a Minneapolis police office on his neck.
But Friday’s Chapel Hill rally kept the focus on Taylor. An emergency medical worker in Louisville, Ky., she died in February after she was shot eight times in the middle of the night as police served a search warrant at her apartment looking for drugs, according to reporting by the Louisville Courier Journal. No drugs were found.
“In these moments, when one thing kid of ignites is, others can get lost,” said UNC School of Dramatic arts faculty member Tia James. “Breonna, as well as Ahmaud Arbery, is so important. Sometimes I think black women also need recognition and need to be highlighted. This is great for her memory. Don’t forget black women.”
Arbery, a black man, was shot and killed while jogging in Georgia in February.
‘This time ... is different’
Friday’s rally was led by two of UNC’s black student organizations but was attended by a diverse representation of the school’s population.
James, who is black, said the fact that there were so many people of other races marching against the treatment of black Americans signals this as a movement
“This time we’re in right now is different,” she said. “I’m inspired by how many white people have turned out. I’m hopeful we’re in a time where this is going to end.”
A separate protest was held earlier in the week at UNC’s McCorkle Place, drawing roughly 1,000 people to the former site of Silent Sam, a Confederate statue torn down by activists in 2018.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 3:17 PM.
