BSU hands across campus rally, 12/11/09

i haven't been on blogger in a long time. this is my 250th post! my friend jason just set up a new blog and that finally spurred me into action. now i have some catching up to do.

these photos are all from BSU's hands across campus rally last month. the rally was in reaction to these racist, homophobic flyers distributed across campus:

the reaction to the flyers was immediate. a notice was posted in the arbiter encouraging everyone to join a human rights rally the next day. i got an email just an hour before the rally started, from my friend amy at the community center, asking me to go take photos for diversity. i'm so glad she told me about it...i would've been sad to miss it.

the turnout was spectacular considering the organizers only gave one day's notice. the crowd was unified and full of hope, and you could feel the positive energy all around. also, the event got a lot of media coverage.

the fact that there was media attention is a great thing; not so great, however, were some aspects of how the media chose to cover the story. many reporters decided to completely leave out the homophobia aspect and only focus on the flyer’s racist nonsense. worse yet, this quote from edgar linares of news channel 7 implies that the homophobic nonsense is actually valid. read carefully:

The fliers offered tips on avoiding AIDS.

It suggested not having sex with bisexuals or intravenous drug users, but also read, "blacks are walking STD factories" and "once you go black we don't want you back."

it’s subtle, but it’s ridiculous. “but also read” implies that the only bullshit-ful part of the flyers was the garbage against black people.

events like this sometimes make me forget that i'm living in a red state, in a conservative nation that is so far behind where it should be in human rights. i get all caught up in the energy of the moment, i overflow with belief in the goodness of humanity...then something jolts me back into reality. thanks, edgar.