By EMERY YOUNGER

STAFF WRITER

Protests have erupted throughout the nation since the announcement on November 24th that police officer Darren Wilson of Ferguson, Missouri would not be indicted by a grand jury following the death of Michael Brown. Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager, was fatally shot by Officer Wilson after he stole a pack of cigarillos from a Ferguson convenience store in August. Brown’s death led to a series of protests in Ferguson, as the community continued to see Michael Brown’s killing as a result of rising racial profiling and police brutality.

The events in Ferguson have struck a chord with millions of Americans, who continue to be concerned by the future of race relations. Over the past two weeks, protestors from Los Angeles to New York, and Atlanta to Burlington, have blocked highways and boycotted speeches in solidarity with the events in Ferguson.

The death of Michael Brown and the systemic issue of police brutality has been equally concerning to students at St. Lawrence. On November 14th, over a week before the release of the grand jury’s decision, Teeka Alston ’17 organized an on-campus rally against police brutality. Alston worked with student organizations, such as Amnesty International, LEFT, and the Weave, to put together the protest. Over 20 students participated in the march, which followed a route across campus before continuing into downtown Canton. Alston believes the march achieved its goal of showing solidarity with Ferguson. “Cars honked

to show support as they passed by us,” said Alston. “Although a few individuals heckled, I think we created an opportunity for dialogue and discussion about an issue that can be hard to talk about.”

Other SLU students who saw the coverage of Ferguson over Thanksgiving were startled by announcement of the grand jury’s decision. John Hicks ’15 watched the announcement while vacationing with his family in South Carolina.

“ First and foremost we should be concerned about how a young, unarmed, black man was shot dead,” said Hicks. “But we also must realize this is not just a protest about Ferguson, this is about the police killings which happen too often in our nation.”

According to a 2013 study by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, an African American is killed by a member of law enforcement every 28 hours. This staggering statistic, coupled with the recent deaths of individuals such as Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, have served as a wake-up call to Americans everywhere about the prevalence of police brutality.

“Before we react negatively to the violent scenes, I think we need to think about the motives behind this violence,” said Zach Martell ’17, who recently completed a SLU Fellowship on the history of black citizenship in America.

“This is not something that began yesterday,” said Martell, “it is an issue that we need to address as a nation, as we continue to reconcile with our history of black oppression.”

It is unclear how long the national protests in support of Ferguson will last; however, it is evident that the issue of police violence has become a pressing issue to Americans everywhere.