Georgetown College’s Student–Run Newspaper
November 16, 2016
Volume CXXXVI Issue 21
Rev. Hannah Bonner speaks at chapel service
The topic of Tuesday’s chapel service was injustice within the U.S., highlighting Sandra Bland’s case; Landry Jung moderates town–hall set up for Rev. Bonner to share her experience By WILLIAM THOMAS Features Editor “God loves you. God loves others.” These were the words Rev. Hannah Bonner emphasized in the middle of her presentation during Tuesday’s chapel service. Rev. Bonner, a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal denomination, traveled from Houston, Texas, where she lives, to speak on her work fighting racial injustice with the Black Lives Matter movement. A graduate of Duke Divinity School, Rev. Bonner has been actively fighting against injustice for several years, especially since the death of Sandra Bland, a Texas woman found dead while in the custody of police after being arrested during a routine traffic stop. Rev. Bonner has become a key advocate for further investigation in that case. She leads a ministry called The Shout, which offers space for spoken word poets to share
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their art, primarily on the subject of racial injustice. She was brought to Georgetown College with the help of Dr. Laura Levens, a fellow Duke Divinity School graduate who now teaches at the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky on GC’s campus. Junior Landry Jung, an art major who acted as a moderator for the event, accompanied her in the chapel service. Rev. Bonner spoke extensively about her time advocating for Sandra Bland, including several “sit–ins” on the property of the Waller County (Texas) jail, where Bland died. Bonner led prayer vigils, helped to organize other community leaders and campaigned to tell the real story of the life of Bland. She is also an activist for racial justice. In seeking justice for Bland, Bonner offered several major points of achievement they have accomplished or are hoping to accomplish. The first goal was to combat the character assassination pushed on Bland by the law enforcement. Bonner and her colleagues
worked to show that Bland was more than just her mugshot. They also pushed the family to file a civil lawsuit for wrongful death, which they won. The suit was filed due to Bland dying in the care and custody of police in the jail, which failed to follow proper procedure in looking after Bland while in custody. Thirdly, a criminal trial is ongoing against the police officer who was responsible for arresting Bland and likely using exaggerated force against her. The trial is being delayed, according to Bonner, in an attempt to let people forget about the case so the consequences are not as bad. Bonner and others have also tried demanding a department of justice investigation into the case, but she worries that the incoming Trump administration will make it more difficult to ensure that it happens. Lastly, Bonner and her colleagues have advocated heav-
ily for jail reform legislation around the country, and she says they have been successful in many places. They are hoping to make it harder for law enforcement to get away with injustices and reduce the possibility of anything like Bland’s death from happening again. Freshman Laura Callihan was one of many students who attended the chapel service and responded positively to Rev. Bonner’s presentation. Regarding the importance of conversation on racial issues on a college campus, she said, “It’s so easy to turn a blind eye to injustice around us.”
She continued, “And really, if we are faced with the facts like Hannah [Bonner] did for us today, it is our duty to fight injustice. We are called to love others, but how can we love them if we ignore the root of the issue?” More information about Rev. Bonner and her ministry can be found on her blog at soulunbound.com. The next chapel service is scheduled for Nov. 29 and will feature Dr. Greg Earwood, founding president of the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, which shares space in the Ensor LRC with Georgetown College.
Taco Bell changes their over–20–year–old logo page 2
GC loses Senior Day football game page 5
“Doctor Strange” hits theatres page 9
An epidemic will kill us all page 10
The Georgetonian/LAURA CALLIHAN
Landry Jung moderates the conversation with Rev. Bonner.