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IKE HAJINIZARIAN | IDS
A protester raises his hands in the “Hands up, don’t shoot” gesture during a 4 1/2-minute moment of silence on College Mall Road on Monday evening in remembrance of Michael Brown, whose body reportedly lay in a street in Ferguson, Mo. for over four hours after his death.
JUSTICE ROADBLOCK Martin Luther King Jr. Day protests fill streets of Bloomington, block traff ic By Daniel Metz dsmetz@indiana.edu | @DanielSMetz
TIANTIAN ZHANG | IDS
Two arrests are made during the #ReclaimMLK protest Monday afternoon at the intersection of College Mall Road and Third Street.
It wasn’t just black and white. It was black, white, latino, Asian, young and old. It was families. It was students. A protest against racism and police brutality stopped traffic Monday evening in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day near the intersection of College Mall Road and East Third Street. The demonstrators met at 4:30 p.m. in the parking lot of O’Malia’s at the corner of East Second Street and College Mall Road. The protest was dubbed “Reclaim MLK,” referring to Martin Luther King Jr. and his stand against racism and police brutality during the civil rights movement. The event was organized in response to recent killings of African Americans by police, specifically Michael Brown, who was killed in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner, who was killed in New York City. The event was a “coming together” of community members, according to the event’s Facebook page. “This event is envisioned as a coming together of community members concerned about social justice and outraged at the
Folk singer takes stage for concert at Buskirk-Chumley Theater By Lanie Maresh
atrocities of anti-black racism in our country,” Ellen Wu, a host of the online event, said in a post. “It will be a loose gathering, as no one person or organization is in charge.” Stephanie Waller, a senior in the IU School of Social Work, brought a homemade poster to the event. “Direct action is immensely important to bring notoriety to issues that remain unaddressed and unspoken about,” Waller said. By the time the demonstration began around 5 p.m., there were well over 100 people present and participating. They started by walking north along College Mall Road towards the intersection of East Third Street and College Mall Road, where they proceeded to fill the pedestrian crosswalks of the intersection, effectively blocking all traffic from driving through the intersection. According to an event flier, the traffic block was a planned aspect of the protest. Protesters began to chant in unison as someone played King’s “I Have a Dream” SEE PROTEST, PAGE 6
Unity Summit bonds campus
emaresh@indiana.edu
By Maia Cochran maicochr@indiana.edu | @_maiacochran
The line to get into the BuskirkChumley Theater stretched from the lobby to outside on Kirkwood Avenue on Saturday night as people awaited DeMent’s upcoming return concert. At 7 p.m., Brian Sherman and his wife, Vickie, were two of the first people waiting in the lobby to hear singer-songwriter Iris DeMent perform. The Shermans, from Washington, Ind., took a day trip to DUO XU | IDS
SEE DEMENT, PAGE 6 Iris DeMent sings a country song at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Monday.
IUAUDITORIUM.COM
More than 340 students, faculty members and even IU Police Department stood up, held hands and vocally declared to protect and support one another in the fight for unity and equality. Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Summit had them all packed into Indiana Memorial Union’s Alumni Hall. Nichelle Whitney, senior and member of Delta Phi Epsilon, directed the summit. Numerous vol-
unteers aided Whitney in running the event and leading discussion table questions. The discussion-based seminar grouped students randomly, encouraging insight in differences of gender, sexuality, race and religion. Attendees filled out a nametag that had a number on it, then sat at a table with the corresponding number. Strangers gathered in groups of about nine around their
JANUARY 27–28
SEE SUMMIT, PAGE 6