Black in America tour takes over Biscayne Bay

Image by the World Affairs Council, courtesy of Creative Commons

Written by Nicole Montero/Asst. News Director

The shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, captured headlines late last year. Brown’s  case along with several other cases of black men dying at the hands of police officers, sparked a national debate about race, policing and a hashtag – #blacklivesmatter.

Black Lives Matter is a political campaign aimed at raising awareness of the oppression of the black community. The movement began as a reaction to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the Sanford, Fl. man who shot unarmed teen Trayvon Martin in 2012.

The BBC Student Government Council plans on continuing the dialogues of race and policing by bringing an award-winning journalist to tell personal stories at the Wertheim University Center Ballrooms.

Soledad O’Brien, journalist, news anchor, producer, documentarian and TV personality, is coming to the BBC to examine these issues and the protests against police brutality as part of her Black in America tour, a series that brings diverse members of the community together to speak about how policing has affected their lives.

“Black in America is about Americans talking about the uncomfortable issue of race, about opening the floor to new perspectives, problems and the powerful experiences of regular people,” said O’Brien through her website, “This is a forum for the conversation America is ready to have – why do so many black Americans fear the very people that are supposed to protect them?”

According to Larissa Adames, BBC-SGA coordinator, the lecture will include a panel discussion between five experts, including a local panelist that can shed light on the controversies in Miami.

“It’s a hot topic that’s going on nationwide,” Adames said. “We thought it would be a great opportunity to have students be a part of this conversation and be more aware of the current events going on in our community.”

Shawna Daniels, a junior philosophy major, is excited to be able to listen to O’Brien’s analysis of the situation. She thinks that the incidents in Ferguson prompted many protests that helped spark the Black Lives Matter campaign.

“I’ve heard that she’s going to be interviewing students before the lecture and I think it would be really interesting for me to get to talk to her about it,” O’Brien said , part of me is glad that the Ferguson case happened because of all the changes it brought, but the actual way it happened just sucks. I’m glad she’s coming because we need this. FIU needs this,” Daniels said.

In 2013, O’Brien launched Starfish Media Group, a multi-platform media production and distribution company dedicated to uncovering and producing stories that take a look at issues of race, class, wealth, poverty and opportunity – all explained through personal stories.

“She really does a little bit of everything,” said Kaytien Franco, marketing assistant for Campus Life at BBC.

“She goes out to the streets herself and interviews people in these neighborhoods. She also interviews policemen, so she gets both sides of the story.”

The University is the last stop on O’Brien’s tour.

“I know that her tour is called Black in America because it’s named after her documentary, which was recently released,” Franco said. “And that documentary is great because it ranges on issues of race and the whole thing going on now with ‘I Can’t Breathe.’”

Alejandro Acosta, senior journalism major, is particularly glad that O’Brien’s interview will involve both sides of the story.

“I just think it’s important to talk to both sides– not just the victim’s,” Acosta said, “we, as a community, need to be less ignorant when it comes to racial prejudice. And these prejudices don’t just happen to Blacks – it happens to Hispanics and to Whites and to many other groups of people. I hope that that is captured in her lecture,” Acosta said.

For Franco, the discussion will touch upon,“… an interesting, touchy subject.”

“O’Brien has gone out there and done her research. And she’s bringing a topic that a lot of people might find controversial. It’s important to bring this kind of thing to campus and allow people to get their point across and share their experiences,” Franco said.

O’Brien will be coming to the WUC Ballrooms on Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

nicole.montero@fiusm.com

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