Hundreds demonstrate through campus in ‘March of Resilience’
‘This is not a protest, it’s an interruption’
A “March of Resilience” was held on Yale’s campus at 2pm today in response to the past week’s discussions regarding race relations.
Almost 2,000 people were invited to the march, which began at the Afro American Cultural Center, hosted by DOWN Magazine and Unite Yale.
The Facebook event page was used as a platform to share details of the event, including a map of the march route through the campus.
Hundreds walked down Park Street and Crown Street to stop at the Native American Cultural Center and to end in front of Sterling Memorial Library where students, faculty and New Haven residents gathered in solidarity.
In describing the march beforehand, the organizers said: “It’s been a tough few days. But the battle isn’t over.
“Women of color and people of color at Yale have forced Yale to look at itself and now, can force Yale to do more than look. We can force Yale to change. Our healing and that push for a better Yale starts NOW.
“This is not a protest, it’s an interruption. Leave class, skip section, reschedule your meeting – we need each other now.”
There were speeches given by students, performances by the Blue Feather Drum Group and Shades, and an overall sense of community felt by those who gathered.
Yale has been quite active in the last week with numerous events relating to race relations on campus.
Students have shared their opinions and beliefs through several news outlets and social media platforms.
It is apparent there are some unresolved issues on campus which need to be addressed in a peaceful, communicative manner.
Today’s gathering was hopefully the first step in this process, one which will result in all students and faculty being respected and feeling the freedom to engage in intellectual discussion both on and off campus.