College students across the country stand in solidarity with Ferguson’s National Call to Action. How is your college responding to reactions to events out of Ferguson and beyond?
By Jeanette DeForge | jdeforge@repub.com
Activists protesting the August police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri -- and a grand jury's subsequent decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the shooting -- march in downtown Northampton Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014.
In solidarity with Ferguson National Call to Action, students at five area colleges are planning to support a mass walkout at 1:01 p.m., the timeMichael Brown Jr. was killed by a Missouri police officer.
Students are being urged to walk out of their dorms, classes and jobs.
Following the walkout, there will be a 4.5 minute moment of silence in remembrance of the 4.5 hours the 18-year-old's body was left laying in the street after he was killed.
Students from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are asked to walk to the Student Union for the vigil; Mount Holyoke College students will meet at the Blanchard Bonfire Pit; Smith College students will meet at the Campus Center; Hampshire College students will gather in front of the library and Amherst College students will gather in front of Frost Library.
Nationwide activists are holding the event to protest the Monday decision by a Missouri grand jury not to indict Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot and killed the unarmed teen. Following days of protests this week, which included the burning of several Ferguson businesses and Black Friday mall shutdowns, Wilson resigned from the force on Saturday.
In Springfield a small group of people marched to the Police Station to protest the decision on Monday. That was followed by a larger protest in Northampton on Tuesday.
There was also a brief demonstration of about 20 people in the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on Friday.
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/five_local_colleges_to_join_fe.html