by Anita Baffoni, WPRO News
Upwards of 300 University of Rhode Island students and faculty gathered to express their collective grievances and concerns following the election results. It was not being described as a protest by organizers, rather “an expression of solidarity with marginalized voices on campus and in the community at large,” the release says.
The “walkout” was originally planned to be outside on the quad but the heavy ran brought the crowd inside the student union. Students and faculty signed up to speak and one by one, people representing the black, white, Muslim, immigrant, Latino, LBGTQ and other communities expressed their concerns with the election outcome.
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“I will not experience some of the exact fear and hate that others will. But when the smoke clears and the dust settles, I’m not going to ask if I am okay, I am going to ask if we are okay,” 22-year-old student David Lockwood said.
“It’s not about us whining. It’s not about us complaining. It’s really simply just about us standing together with each other saying we have a message of hope and that we want to share it with you and we hope you stand with us,” says student Calen Nardone.
John Pantalone chairs the journalism department at URI.
“One of the things that hasn’t been talked about much other than in the journalism community is the threat to the free press represented by the people who have been elected,” he said to a cheering crowd. “The media has a long history of reporting on activist movements but there is a danger currently that journalists or the media as it is currently constituted, might not report on activist movements so much now. Without an actual free press, we could well be doomed.”
Many of the speakers vowed to support others who may feel oppressed or discriminated against based on their race, sexuality or gender.
