Members of Ohio University’s Black Student Union are organizing to paint the graffiti wall near Bentley Hall in response to a recent incident of vandalism in Athens and problems across the country.
Brittany Mitchell, a residential assistant in Sargent Hall, put together a Black Lives Matter bulletin board with pictures of tombstones and photos of black people killed by police officers, such as Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
Two weeks later, it was torn down.
“One of my residents sent me a text with a Twitter link of a Snapchat video of my Black Lives Matter bulletin board being torn down,” Mitchell, a junior studying political science and global studies said. “I was just getting all these texts and emails from my residents, friends and boss asking if everything was OK and what was going on, and I wasn't even there.”
Mitchell said her boss told her that her board was the only one torn down in the building that night, which was shortly before Thanksgiving break. Her boss then sent an email to the residents of Sargent Hall regarding the incident.
“At first, I was disappointed,” Mitchell said. “For a split second, I was so disappointed that I was almost in tears, but I just remembered that it was bound to happen, especially with the demographic (in Athens).”
The video of the vandalized bulletin board was posted on Twitter, to which Jamie Patton, assistant dean of students, and Jenny Hall- Jones, interim vice president for student affairs and dean of students, were tagged in the thread.
@JennyHallJones @ohiou @KDnHD Sargent hall 3rd floor I am honestly scared for my life as a black student living with people like this.
— Victoria Lewis (@_saucyV) November 22, 2015
OU’s Black Student Union was later tagged in the post and decided to take action, Kymaia Gadsden, parliamentary of the organization, said.
“Me and two other members of BSU thought it would be best to instead of react with anger, we were going to react silently,” Gadsden, a sophomore studying marine biology, said. “Painting a black fist on the graffiti wall would say we see and know what's going on and that we are aware of the things happening on campus.”
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The board could have just been a random act of vandalism, but Jasmyn Pearl, historian of BSU, said with many of the problems of racial tension on campus, other organizations, including BSU, are recognizing these problems and working together to combat the issues.
The black fist is a symbol that has been used in many movements and protests to represent solidarity, support and unity — a reason why members of BSU chose to illustrate it on the graffiti wall near Bentley Hall, Gadsden said.
“Other organizations paint different things on the wall for their anniversaries and events,” Gadsden said. “So why can't we paint something that says we stand in solidarity with black students on campuses here and across the country? By painting (the fist) we are letting people know that we are aware. Black lives matter, and we are not backing down.”
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