Reporter September Issue (Protest Issue)

SEPTEMBER 2015 reporter.rit.edu

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REPORTER EDITOR IN CHIEF Alyssa Jackson PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Gino Fanelli ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Alex Jones COPY EDITOR Bryanne McDonough NEWS EDITOR Taylor Derrisaw TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Michel Zaken LEISURE EDITOR Gino Fanelli FEATURES EDITOR Mandi Moon SPORTS EDITOR Liz Peterson VIEWS EDITOR Jake Krajewski WRITERS Taylor Derrisaw, Melissa Mendoza, Mich Zaken, Gino Fanelli, Bryanne McDonough, Ty Clauss, Courtney Smith, Liz Peterson, Ryan Black, Kevin Zamperion

ART ART DIRECTOR Jordyn Carias ONLINE ART DIRECTOR Max Yeager STAFF DESIGNERS Caleb Payne, Brandon Edquist, Deanne Makel, Halli Rosin, Olivia Konys, Jane Rosenthal, Annie Wong, Peter Traversone

EDITOR’S NOTE: A WORLD OF ABSOLUTES I wrote an editor’s note last year asking my fellow RIT classmates to get more involved, to “wake up.” I asked that they make their voices heard and that they get angry and talk about the things that anger them. This year I’m going to take a different stance and urge caution of absolutes.

No one person is all bad or all good. No one group of people is exclusively bad or good.

We’re all a part of the problems that we face and we are all a part of the solution. And if that isn’t frustrating or grey enough, now try to figure out how to fix the violence, the racism and the hurt in the world without making absolutes.

It’s important to remember that there are two sides to a protest, and either one is rarely completely right or completely wrong. While I urge my fellow students, millennials or friends to speak out, loud and proud, about what is angering you or what you see as wrong in the world, I also urge you to listen.

Don’t cut out Fox News simply because you think it’s a conservative crack pot organization that wouldn’t know good journalism if it hit every employee there in the face. Don’t hate all cops because cell phones are catching more of them doing terrible things. Don’t dismiss transgender rights simply because you don’t think Caitlyn Jenner deserved the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Listen to those whom you oppose and learn, and form new opinions. Collaborate and recognize your own wrongdoings and biases. This is what will help us be a transformative generation. Too long have we been polarized to one side or the other: in police violence, in politics, in everything that we do. Let’s start a movement of working together, because that’s how we really get anything done.

CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS Victoria Savka, Lilly Blum, Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, Max Yeager, Ryan Kovar

PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO EDITOR Kristen McNicholas CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Kristen McNicholas, Gino Fanelli

BUSINESS BUSINESS MANAGER Jaclyn Bergin AD / PR MANAGER Danielle Sanderson PRODUCTION MANAGER Ryan Walsh ONLINE SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR Nathan J.Lichtenstein WEB MANAGER Joe Jankowiak VIDEO EDITOR Sara Caruso

ADVISOR Rudy Pugliese PRINTING EPi Printing CONTACT 585.475.2212

Alyssa Jackson Editor in Chief Letters to the Editor should be sent to rpteic@rit.edu. No letters will be printed unless signed. All letters received become the property of REPORTER.

Reporter Magazine is published monthly during the academic year by a staff comprised of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. Business, Editorial and Design facilities are located in Room A-730, in the lower level of the Campus Center. Our phone number is 1.585.475.2212. The Advertising Department can be reached at 1.585.475.2213. “Would you call a baby ‘not-vegan?’” -N.H. The opinions expressed in Reporter do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute. Reporter is not responsible for materials presented in advertising areas. Reporter takes pride in its membership in the Associated Collegiate Press and American Civil Liberties Union. Copyright © 2014 Reporter Magazine. All rights reserved. No portion of this Magazine may be reproduced without prior written permission.

TABLE OF cover design by Jordyn Carias table of contents illustration by Victoria Savka

NEWS 6

THE ART OF PROTEST: KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS

TECH 8

Knowing how to react in legal situations

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RIOT CONTROL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Science of tear gas and other riot controls

HOW TECHNOLOGY HAS AFFECTED PROTEST MOVEMENTS Current technologys affect on the effectivness and speed of protest today

REPORTER.RIT.EDU 4 September

SPORTS 10

SPORTS CONTROVERSIES Stories of rasism, corruption and punishment

CONTENTS LEISURE 13

AYL: PROTEST PUZZLES Riotous fun

FE ATURES 19

CIVILIANS CATALYZING CHANGE: PROTESTS IN ROCHESTER

VIEWS 26

How the ROC community has made themselves heard

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THE MODERN SOCIALIST What the term ‘socialism’ really means in modern day society

A HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN PROTEST Where did we start and how far have we come?

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FRIENDS FIGHTING HUNDER It’s food, not bombs for Flow City Pickers

ROCHESTER RACE RIOTS: UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNREST

A CASE FOR VIOLENT PROTEST: ATTENTION OVER ANARCHY Is violence warranted?

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A look at racial changes in the Rochester community

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STRENGTH IN PEACE Are civil protests the only true option?

WORD ON THE STREET What is your most powerful belief?

RINGS Call or text us at: 585.672.4840

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THE ART OF PROTEST:

KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS

written by Taylor Derrisaw | illustration by Lilly Blum | design by Caleb Payne

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty.”

- Henry David Thoreau

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he rights to organize, assemble and protest are some of the most fundamental cornerstones of a democracy.

It’s been said time and time again that if a government abuses the power bestowed upon it by the people, the populace has a right to stand against it.

This raises a question, however: What are your rights as a protester? What is considered off-limits for demonstrators, and how can you deal with police confrontation? Citizens in the United States have a multitude of rights at their disposal which must be heeded at all times, including before and during a protest.

a place where multiple groups of people will be able to hear their message. Forums, historically, are designed specifically for this purpose. Although the government can impose restrictions on timing and manner, first amendment rights are respected under these conditions. You are allowed to protest in front of government buildings, although these locations can also have restrictions imposed on them.

How: What Protesting Legally Entails Should you decide to protest, there are certain restrictions you have to abide by, according to the law. The manner in which you protest has to be controlled and respectful of other citizens.

For example, it’s perfectly lawful to picket outside and on sidewalks. You are also allowed to solicit for donations, hand out pamphlets and raise awareness, so long as your activities do not hinder pedestrian or building access.

Some activities may require you to obtain a permit. If you wish to set up a table or a booth, you must obtain a permit from city officials.

Playing audio over loudspeakers is also legal only with a permit.

It is illegal to damage public or private property.

This rule generally limits protests from getting violent while also ensuring that all types of property are protected. Should any property be damaged, you may be legally placed under arrest.

“Protesting in front of a government office can force authority figures to consider all facets of the issue.”

Where: Location, Location, Location One of the most important aspects of protesting, location will often determine how effective your protest is and who hears your message. As a protester, you can demonstrate in a variety of locations. Each location should reflect a specific goal, such as whether you want to raise awareness for an issue or convince government officials to take a certain action.

Forums and public squares are some of the most common locations for protesting.

Easily accessible by the public and usually constituting the center of a populated area, forums allow protesters to demonstrate in

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When: Being Confronted by Police During some protests, police will inevitably be pulled out to quell quarrelsome or agitated protesters. Even if you are confronted by police, you are protected by rights given to you as a citizen.

If you are stopped by police, remain calm.

Be polite and respectful. Keep your hands in sight, and answer their orders, as long as they are respecting your rights.

The Fifth Amendment protects your right to avoid self-incrimination. Under the protection of this law, you are not required to answer any questions or provide any information that might help build a case against you. If an officer detains you, you are not obligated to answer any of his or her questions.

You may refuse a search of your body or personal belongings. The police are allowed to pat you down, but may not exceed that without your permission. It is important to avoid resisting when officers pat you down, as it could be taken as a sign of aggression.

If you are not being placed under arrest, you may ask to leave. If the officer obliges, walk away slowly and peacefully.

Protests are as natural to democracy as voting and taxes; without civil discourse and disobedience, change would be impossible.

Before starting or joining your own protest, however, it’s important to realize your rights as a citizen and use them to your full advantage. R

“Do not resist, even if the arrest is unwarranted.”

the cure for awkward silence 585.672.4840

RIOT CONTROL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGIES written by Melissa Mendoza | illustration by Victoria Savka | design by Brandon Edquist

SCIENCE OF TEAR GAS AND OTHER RIOT CONTROLS » Riot control techniques have been around for about 1,000 years to deal with uncontrollable civilian protests. Methods for controlling riots are diverse, their uses throughout history have spanned from World Wars to everyday protests and are mainly divided into two groups: chemical and non-chemical tools. Chemical tools have several toxicological and sociological disadvantages, many of which are no longer used in today’s enforcement. Technology has brought about new approaches to riot control tools, combining both chemical and non-chemical irritants utilizing electronic-based devices.

CHEMICAL IRRITANTS » Also known as riot control agents (RCAs), chemical irritants are a notable method of bringing protests to a halt.

Some RCAs include peripheral sensory irritants such as ‘pepper spray’ and ‘tear gas,’ pigments or fluorescent paints, obnoxious odors, and non-irritant smokes. They have been created as site-specific tools, causing physiological responses such as tearing, sneezing, coughing, bodily burning sensations, blistering and nausea.

World War I debuted the first use of poison gas at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. There, Germans utilized a chlorine-based poison causing a yellow-green cloud to severely affect the victim’s respiratory tract. Although this first instance raised controversy, Germany continued their gas warfare development. It also escalated the use of chemical irritants throughout the War, furthering the use of chlorine-based gas, and new approaches with the use of phosgene and mustard gas. Although phosgene caused less coughing, it was more potent than chlorine. Mustard gas, or Yperite, is an odorless chemical that causes internal and external blistering.

NON-CHEMICAL RIOT CONTROLS » Some non-chemical riot controls include water cannons and plastic/rubber bullets. Water cannons, devices designed to release about 300 gallons per minute of water, were first used in the 1930s for riot control in Germany. They were also used to disperse protesters during the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, and are still used today in Chile, Belgium and several other regions of Europe.

Plastic and rubber bullets are more commonly used compared to water cannons. These bullets can be either made of (or coated with) rubber or plastic to minimize injury, but still cause pain. The first rubber bullets were used in the 1880s in Singapore to control rioters. Plastic bullets were developed until in the 1970s as a more accurate and light weight bullet coated in polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Plastic bullets have been reported to cause death, bone fractures, bruises and abrasions.

Although rubber bullets were phased out after the development of plastic bullets, in 2011 the Metropolitan police in the UK authorized the use of rubber bullets when ‘necessary.’

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FUTURE TOOLS » Ever-evolving technology is now allowing what was once a science fictional idea to become reality. According to David Griffith from ‘Police, The Law Enforcement Magazine,’ technology such as heat rays, sonic lasers and crowd control TASERs are in the near future. The Magnetic Acoustic Device (MAD), a planar speaker system, has the ability to disperse a normal speaking voice for more than a mile.

Historically, TASERs have been used to temporarily control individual people or ease a violent arrest. TASER Shockwave, however, can fire up to put to 18 TASER cartridge at once. This formof TASER has not been used in a riot yet. Raytheon, a technological and innovative leader specializing in defense, civil, and cybersecurity, is creating a system that emits low frequency sound waves able to affect the respiratory tract and hinder breathing. Each of these tools may be used as crowd control techniques in the future.

Technology continues to change the way we live and will continue to change the way that protests and riots are handled by law enforcement. There is no surefire way to predict what may come in the future, but we can be certain that the changing technology will play a large role. R

PROTEST

HOW TECHNOLOGY HAS AFFECTED

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by Michel Corey Zaken | illustration by Kaitlyn Fitzgerald | design by Halli Rosin

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ur generation has been filled with outstanding technological advancements. From smart phones to social media, people want as much information as possible delivered faster than lightning. Even just 15 years ago, the lack of instant communication and the technology available for coverage made all the difference in protesting. Through multiple venues people have the ability to spread information globally and view live

Twelve years ago in China, while half a million people protested a national security bill (and won), the “protests felt mostly like a Hong Kong story, separate from the rest of the world,” according to The New Yorker. Now, with technology on their side, activists have found various ways to spread images and information over platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter, and when all else fails, FireChat.

Fifteen years ago, before the Internet could be found in almost every household, it would have

streaming videos with just a few taps of their fingers.

CCTV — closed-circuit television — first came about in the 1940’s and was used solely for military purposes. Today, this video surveillance camera is used mainly for viewing traffic violations or in gas stations, convenience stores and homes as a security system.

In 2009, CCTV was used to view footage of London protests against the Israeli offensive in Gaza, where 100 arrests were made, 65 people were charged with violent disorder and 29 served custodial sentences, according to Nicola Clutcher from The Guardian. CCTV was the primary source of evidence used in court cases against these protesters.

An app named Sukey was invented by students in London due to protests occurring over the Middle East conflicts in 2011. As people tweeted to warn others about the minute to minute action, the creators were inspired and wanted something better, faster and all from one source. Sukey “collects messages, tweets and photos from protesters and tries to make sense of what is going on,” according to BBC. It is also supposed to direct people away from trouble with a built in compass that suggests which safe areas to move towards.

taken about an hour to receive breaking news via television, and up to three days by newspaper. Today, one person tweets 140 characters or less and millions are updated on worldwide breaking news.

In 2014, The New Yorker stated that, “as vehicles for organizing and expressing dissent, the Internet and social media such as Twitter and Facebook have already proven significant tools in myriad protest, causes, uprisings and conflicts.”

Social media may also provoke people to react faster and more often while reading about breaking

news from people just like them. Scrolling through live tweets or finding organizations on Facebook that reflect their views may encourage their opinions on a social conflict and cause them to join the movement.

Technology has forever changed how plans for protests are executed by helping people communicate. Then, once social media came to life, it expanded and diversified how news is spread and how protests gain momentum.

Although there are positives and negatives concerning protesting as technology advances, the more it progresses, the more the mode of protesting will too. R

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SPORTS

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he world of sports has experienced many controversies this year including racism and corruption in soccer, the idea of paying college athletes and a cheating scandal that made people question how professional athletes are punished.

Some of these issues have been around for decades while others are new problems that need to be solved.

IN RUSSIAN SOCCER The Russian Football Union has struggled with a racism issue for many years. The Fare Network and Sova Center, two organizations that focus on discrimination in football and Russian nationalism, respectively, have issued a report that highlights more than 200 cases of discriminatory behavior linked to Russian football over the past two seasons. Most recently, Emmanuel Frimpong, a former Arsenal midfielder now playing for FC UFA in the Russian Premier League, was

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subjected to racist monkey chants during a game against Spartak Moscow. Frimpong’s response was to raise two middle fingers to the chant. To make things worse, Frimpong was given a two-game suspension for his reaction while no punishment was given to the chanters.

The general director of FC UFA, Shamil Gazizov, even made the statement that, “what Frimpong did was wrong. Sometimes you even have to hold back the tears and just put up with it.” Ivory Coast player Yaya Toure, however, argued that black players should boycott the upcoming 2018 World Cup in Russia if Russia doesn’t act against its fans that have reportedly chanted racist comments.

FIFA The Federation Internationale de Football Association(FIFA), has been under scrutiny for years concerning its corruption involving the selection of World Cup host countries

and limiting broadcasting rights to specific stations.The United States has recently arrested a number of FIFA officials on charges including money laundering, fraud and racketeering. Sports marketing executives allegedly paid more than $150 million in bribes to FIFA officials to secure broadcast rights.

Soon after the arrests, an investigation was opened in Switzerland concerning the questionable decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cup to Russia and Qatar. Not many people would have predicted that FIFA would award Qatar a World Cup due to its slave-like working conditions and the fact that temperatures in Qatar regularly reach over 110 degrees Fahrenheit, hardly a safe condition to play a ninety minute soccer game. FIFA officials have allegedly received kickbacks from countries and broadcasting companies since 1991. Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s president, resigned just days after winning his fifth reelection, claiming that he wasn’t involved in the corruption but that he isn’t the right person fix the issues FIFA is having.

OF 2015

by Courtney Smith Design by Olivia Konys Illustration by Max Yaeger

OF NCAA ATHLETES The National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, is a nonprofit organization that regulates college athletics and makes about six billion dollars annually. Its players, the people that are arguably the ones allowing the NCAA to be so profitable, see none of this money. Athletes receive no money when the NCAA sells jerseys with their name on it, nor when the NCAA uses their skills and personality to sell tickets or video games based on them. A huge amount of money is being made off of college sports which begs the question of whether or not the athletes can still be considered amateurs. Although college and universities themselves cannot afford to pay their athletes, as only 2% make more money than they spend on sports, it is abundantly clear that the NCAA can afford to pay the athletes.

Many people argue that athletes should be able to negotiate their own working conditions and capture their worth on the

open market. Others worry that this would create a barrier to competition in sports as athletes will just go to the schools that pay the most. In turn, these teams will become even better and make more money to attract more highly skilled athletes. This may not be that big of a problem as the best high school players are already going to the best college sports teams regardless.

It is a concern that paying college athletes will distract them from their academics and NCAA president, Mike Emmert, has taken a side by stating “rather than push college athletics further and further from academics, we need to bring it closer.”

People also argue that the opportunity of education and getting your name out there to potentially be signed to pro sports is compensation enough.

DEFLATEGATE AND IN THE NFL After defeating the Indianapolis Colts 45 to 7 in the American Football Conference Championship Game, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were put under investigation. It was questioned whether or not they intentionally used deflated footballs.

Deflated footballs are easier to grip and many quarterbacks prefer them that way, especially in the rainy weather experienced during the game in question. While text messages between the officials locker room attendant and assistant equipment man clearly show that they purposefully reduced

the pressure of Brady’s balls, it is unclear whether or not Brady knew about the plan.

Even though Brady destroyed his cell phone that allegedly contained incriminating evidence, the Wells report still found that Brady was at least “generally aware.”

The NFL punished the act by suspending Brady for the first four games of the upcoming season, fining the Patriots $1 million and taking away their first round pick for the 2016 draft and their fourth round pick in the 2017 draft. Many consider the punishment to be too harsh as it greatly affects the people who may have had nothing to do with the scandal while others believe the punishment is too light considering the Patriots were clearly given an advantage over the Colts and that the championship game was not fairly won.

Deflategate just adds to the list of questionable punishments set by the NFL. Previously, Ray Rice was only given a two game suspension after assaulting his wife.

Defending this decision, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, stated that he was only trying to be consistent but giving no suspension would have been more consistent with past decisions made by the NFL. Ray Lewis got his murder charge dropped in 2000 to an obstruction of justice charge in exchange for testifying against his friends and received a $250,000 fine.

Josh Gordon, however, received an entire season long suspension for testing positive for marijuana even though the procedure for his drug test was very questionable.

Inconsistent punishment is arguably undermining the respect many people have for the NFL, but fans will still watch and support because, well, it’s football. R

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Word Bank

AT YOUR LEISURE

AYL

ANARCHY DEMONSTRATION PEACE PROTEST RIOT CONTROL RIOTS

ROCHESTER SCIENCE SOCIALIST TECHNOLOGY UNEMPLOYMENT UNREST

FIND YOUR WAY TO THE END OF THE MAZE

USE THE NUMBERS & LETTERS BELOW TO FIGURE OUT A CRYPTIC MESSAGE

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THE MODERN SOCIALIST

written by Gino Fanelli | design by Brandon Edquist | photos courtesy of Rochester ISO

Protesters gather at a fight for 15 rally, where the organization protested for a $15 minimum wage in April this year.

To be blunt, socialism is a naughty word in mainstream politics. It is a lingering term found in every right wing attack on President Obama, described as an anti-American ideology and, to some, believed to be the actual, literal ideology of Satan himself. But, despite the rhetoric surrounding the term, perhaps there is no better time than now to refresh our collective memory on what socialism entails. As Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described “DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST,” becomes a primary figure in the upcoming presidential election, the term “socialist” has quickly become less slander, and more of a crucial component of contemporary politics.

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Republicans want to call people socialists because it relates to Obama,” Sam Trapp, a RIT alum and member of the Rochester chapter of the International Socialist Organization (ISO), said.

“And socialists don’t support Obama. But the big problem is that people equate socialism to the Stalinist block of the USSR.” The ISO itself is a multi-national organization which subscribes to the Marxist teaching of “socialism from the bottom,” which, in other words, refers to action that focuses on power derived from members of society disenfranchised by the capitalist system. These groups include minorities, members of the LGBT community and the impoverished.

“The first time I went to a socialist meeting, I just really got it,” Trapp said. “Some of the issues they were discussing at the time were issues like abortion rights, and defending gay and trans rights. Immediately, they were talking beyond just marriage equality. And then there was anti-racist

“Always be aware of the propaganda that the capitalist culture puts in front of you and really try to read into the message behind it.”

theory; the first being a general rule of exploitation of the working class, the second of racism being a presence in the workplace (but denying its existence outside) the third being the cause of colonizer/colonized dynamic, wherein the oppressed are those who do not fit into the general culture norms and the fourth being that racism itself is a presence on a psychological level, and is essentially omnipresent. What becomes apparent is that discrimination in and of itself is a far more complex issue than strict Marxist ideology can offer an encompassing explanation for.

On a large-scale political level, socialism becomes more fragmented. For example, Trapp denounces both Obama and Sanders on account of their affiliation with the Democratic Party. Obama, in particular, Trapp takes objection to for his open endorsement of drone warfare. Both candidates are, simply, denied by the ISO for riding the donkey, so to speak, with the Democratic Party seen as a symbol of a broken two-party political system.

Above all else, Trapp urges people to keep ever vigilant in terms of what society presents them. “Always be aware of the propaganda that the capitalist culture puts in front of you,” Trapp said. “And really try to read into the message behind it.” R

stuff. There’s a lot of non-racist politics going on, like color blindness. But the ISO are specifically anti-racist, and openly fight against racism.”

Trapp went on to explain how the dilemma of class fuels racism, sexism and discrimination.

“A person of color in the Oval Office is probably not struggling the same way as a black family in the inner city of Rochester,” Trapp said. “There’s a clear class divide, and of course that is an extreme example, but it comes from place where we always look at how class intersects a lot of these issues.

A lot of the modern left are dealing with this issue of intersectionality, of how racism, sexism and homophobia all overlay over each other, and our argument is capitalism is perpetuating the problems. There’s a lot of arguments that capitalism invented modern racism, that it keeps workers fighting among themselves rather than rising up against the bosses.”

This philosophy is one echoed by four-time socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs.

This has become an area of contention among scholars. As Cornel West of the National Democratic Socialists of America argues, there are four interpretations of racism found in the socialist Here the organization is pictured at a march for climate change that occurred in April of this year.

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by Gino Fanelli | design by Halli Rosin

[Violent]

Post World War 1 Tulsa contained the perfect recipe for a race war; an economic slump in the white community, booming business in the predominately black Greenwood district (known as “The Black Wall Street”) and the lingering presence of the KKK and Jim Crow laws, all culminating in an attack by white Tulsans on Greenwood from May 31 to June 1, 1921. The result was devastating, with over 6,000 arrests of Greenwood residents, 10,000 blacks left homeless, hospitals burnt and an official death toll of 39. However, since records were mostly covered up, the real death toll is estimated to be upwards of 300.

[Violent]

As the Great Depression began to set in, racial tensions too hit a fever pitch in Texas. Following the alleged rape of an undisclosed woman, and her falsely reported mutilation by black farm hand George Hughes, a white mob burned the county courthouse. Hughes’ body was taken, dragged through the streets and hung from a tree. The riots, running from May 9 through May 13, were inevitably quelled by the National Guard, with 39 total arrests. However, the Sherman Riot is considered the beginning of a long stream of similar events throughout Texas.

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[Violent]

Following the acquittal of four officers charged in the beating of Rodney King on April 29, 1992, rioters took to the streets, incensed by racial prejudice and injustice in the police department. When the dust cleared, 53 were left dead, 3,000 injured and over $1 billion in property done to the city.

[Violent]

With collaboration of more than a hundred antiwar groups clashing with police, the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, from August 25-29, resulted in 109 injured officers, 100 injured protestors and 589 total arrests.

[Violent]

[Violent]

Spurred by the police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a popular Greenwich Village hangout for the LGBT community, on June 28, 1969, the six nights of rioting resulted resulted in 13 arrests.

The riots, and resulting formation of the Gay Liberation Front, are seen as the beginnings of the LGBT Civil Rights Movement.

[Violent]

In June of 1943, white Navy men and Marines stationed in Southern California began a war on the local Latino population, targeting those dressed in the eponymous Zoot Suits, which was named as a symbol of gang involvement.

This followed the beating of several service men by alleged zoot-suiters. While many MexicanAmericans were beaten and stripped, and an estimated 600 arrested, none were killed.

[Violent] Following the arrest of black motorist Marquette Frye on suspicion of drunk driving on August 11, 1965, tensions in the predominately black Watts Neighborhood of Los Angeles reached a breaking point. By August 16, when peace was restored, 34 were left dead, 1,032 injured, 4,000 arrested, and over $42 million in property damage, making it the bloodiest battle of the Civil Rights Movement.

Coming in two waves; the first following the shooting of black teen Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014 and the second

[Non-violent] following Wilson’s acquittal on November 24, 2014, this series of unrest spurred a national debate on numerous issues, including police brutality, militarization of the police and racial discrimination. All told, the riots resulted in 10 injured civilians, 6 injured officers and 211 arrests.

[Violent]

and Joan Baez. The March on Washington is remembered today as one of the brightest moments of the Civil Rights Movement.

[Non-violent] Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) began their sit-in at 8 p.m. on December 30, 1936 at General Motors Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Michigan. Inspired by protests in Europe, this tactic involves protestors simply sitting in one place until their demands are met, or arrests are handed out. Protestors were fighting for a minimum wage, safety guidelines and the halting of outsourcing to non-union factories. 44 days into the protest a deal was struck.

[Non-violent]

Racial tensions hit a tipping point in Baltimore on April 19, 2015, following the mysterious death of 25 year old Freddie Gray while in police custody.

The resulting riots resulted in 113 injured officers, two shootings and one burning victim. 486 total protestors were arrested. Aftermath of the riots continue to ripple through Baltimore, namely in a skyrocketing homicide rate.

[Non-violent]

Perhaps the most iconic figure in American non-violent protest, 42 year old Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white bus rider in Montgomery, Alabama. The result were a national backlash against Jim Crow laws, as a key factor in the spark of the Civil Rights Movement.

Though consisting of a variety of protests throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, one of the most notable is the May 26, 1979 gathering of 125,000 in Washington D.C. The targeted plants; Calvert Cliffs, Seabrook, Diablo Canyon, Shoreham and Three Mile Island, were not stopped from opening, but construction was delayed.

[Non-violent]

[Non-violent]

Following their March 20, 1969 wedding, John Lennon and Yoko Ono used the guarantee of a media spectacle to promote world peace. From March 25 through March 30, Ono and Lennon staged a 12-hour a day press conference from their bed at the Hilton Amsterdam, discussing different concepts of peace.

An event that can only modestly be referred to as iconic, the August 28, 1963 gathering of over 200,000 protestors in Washington D.C. played host to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as well as speeches and performances from Bob Dylan, John Lewis

A series of protests carried out during the Vietnam War, the October 21, 1967 rally at the Pentagon, though by no means the largest, most heated or in any way unique, spawned one of the most iconic images of the Flower Child Generation.

At the gathering of 100,000, French photographer Marc Riboud captured an image of a young hippie placing a flower into the end of a serviceman’s rifle, a symbol that would encapsulate the entirety of the anti-war movement. R

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CIVILIANS CATALYZING CHANGE: PROTESTS IN ROCHESTER

by Bryanne McDonough | illustration by Max Yeager | design by Dennae Makel

“I

have an ideology that protests and on-the-ground movements are what change society,” Zakary Skinner, a former Biomedical Science major at RIT and self-described revolutionary socialist, said.

“That’s why they’re so vital.”

Protests around the country are getting more attention as communities demand to have their needs recognized. The recent protests in Baltimore, Maryland and Ferguson, Mo. sparked a nation widemovement commonly known as “#BlackLivesMatter.”

Rochester has had its share of protests, demonstrations and strikes. Citizens use these events to bring to attention the issues that need to be addressed in the city. Change starts with the people, and they will make themselves heard.

PEOPLE and PROTESTS Although protests are often designed to seem spontaneous, that is not usually the case. From organization to implementation, protests are carefully planned out to ensure that the intended message, whatever it may be, is successfully conveyed. Location, timing and wording are all key factors in planning a protest.

Organizers must also gather support; a protest without people behind it doesn’t hold much weight. Gathering manpower involves calling activist friends and reaching out to other organizations. These tactics are

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vital to ensure that the proper message is sent to the community.

“We tend to have more peaceful marches,” said Patrick Flanigan, the new media editor for the City of Rochester’s Communications Bureau. The protests that Skinner described, including strikes for the Fight for Fifteen movement and Rochester’s demonstrations for Baltimore and Ferguson,were peaceful while still serving their intended purpose.

Most demonstrations are marches or gatherings outside government buildings, although one protest Skinner participated in involved lying down in the streets to block major intersections; this type of protest, which is known as a “die-in,” was held around the country after the Baltimore and Ferguson trials.

As an activist, Skinner has both participated in protests and helped organize some that have been held at RIT. His activism career began where he grew up in Tucson, Ariz. when he began to protest for immigrant rights.

“The way that I was learning history was like, there’s all these problems, and occasionally some dudes in a board room fix

THE WAY CITIZENS MAKE CHANGE IS BY PROTESTING TO MAKE THEMSELVES HEARD.

something a little bit, but it’s usually going to get bad in the long run. Like, what’s the point?” he asked. Instead, Skinner learned that the way citizens make change is by protesting to make themselves heard.

“Awesome” is how Skinner described participating in protests. “It’s refreshing to see so many other individuals engaging in the same ideas.”

THE CITY and PROTESTS “[The mayor and the police chief] are accessible and open to what the people want,” according to Jacqueline Shuman, public information officer for the Rochester Police Department (RPD). Communication between the citizens, the government and the police department is necessary for a city to run smoothly. Flanigan gave the example of when an officer was involved in a fatality earlier this year, after which the police and the city investigated to make sure that proper procedure had been followed. The RPD made sure to provide information to the public and keep lines of communication open to ensure the community was aware of what was going on.

“If there’s an issue or incident, then [the mayor and police chief] get in front of that incident before people start making assumptions to show people that we have nothing to hide, this is what happened,” explained Shuman.

“Everybody wants a peaceful city … if something does happen, then it is addressed,” Flanigan said. The government and police department work together to ensure Rochester remains a happy, safe community. Protests are one way for them to get input from citizens about what they want to change in the city. Flanigan suggests that anyone who is planning a protest contact the Office of Special Events to ensure that everything runs smoothly. If it is going to be a larger protest, a permit may be required.

The city tries its best to be open to the people’s needs. However, it is not always easy.

“There are people who want change faster than we can bring it on,” explained Flanigan.

Change takes time, but battle after battle, protesters are pushing it through.

POLICE and PROTESTS “Police are always [at protests] to maintain crowd control, maintain safety of the people that are protesting as well as the people that are in the public,” said Shuman. Skinner said that he has always noticed a police presence at protests.

Sometimes they seemed unnecessary, but other times they were helpful with redirecting traffic, according to his experiences.

Interactions between police and protesters tend to be tame in Rochester. The police only step in if the protesters are blocking roads or sidewalks, being unruly or breaking the law.

During protests in the last year, police have made arrests when protesters became violent or uncooperative. If there is an issue, the police will begin by addressing it with the protesters in question. If the protesters are combative or refuse to move, the police will follow the procedure to arrest them.

Many of the high-profile protests around the nation address the issue of police brutality; the RPD is trying to take the necessary steps to make sure such protests are unnecessary here in Rochester. They are currently in the process of obtaining body cameras for the police officers, which would help make sure that both citizens and the police get the story straight.

The RPD also has programs in place intended to build trust with the community. One such program is Books and Bears, in which police officers carry around stuffed animals and books

GREAT CHANGE STARTS WITH THE CITIZENS to help comfort children they encounter on duty.

Undeniably, protests are a fundamental part of the history of this country. The Declaration of Independence, the Boston Tea Party, the Civil Rights Movement, women’s suffrage and many other major steps toward a more equal and independent nation have been achieved because of protests.

Great change starts with the citizens. As Skinner says, battles are won by activists, not just “some dude signing something.”

R

Features 19

FRIENDS FIGHTING HUNGER

by Gino Fanelli

A

| design by Annie Wong | photography by Kristen McNicholas & Gino Fanelli

rmed with a beat-up flat bed cart and a blue flannel vest with a back patch reading “Collecting Food For the Shelters! Please Donate, Talk to Me” in scrawled black ink, Khoury Humphrey, 28, embarks into the veritable circus of a Saturday morning in the Rochester Public Market. He approaches a vendor surrounded by stacked loaves of bread.

“You got anything here I can take right now?” Humphrey asked.

“Ya know, we’re kind of busy right now,” the vendor responded, examining his inventory. “Maybe come back a bit later and I’ll have something.”

With that, Humphrey wishes the vendor a good day and continues on his trek, a small group of volunteers slowly forming alongside him. Their group ranges from the elderly Charles and Gloria Simmons, him in a light purple work shirt with beige suspenders and her in a gray blazer and sunglasses, to Scott Helfer with his scruffy black beard, to Humphrey himself, with his tattooed knuckles and double-gauged ears. Together, they are anything but the typical image of neighborhood charity.

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These are the Flower City Pickers (FCP), an organization Humphrey founded in January of 2015. Their mission is simple: to eliminate food waste from the Public Market by providing free food to shelters, or simply to anyone who needs it. Much of the fresh produce of the market that isn’t sold, even if it is perfectly edible, would simply be tossed if it wasn’t donated.

“I was recovering from heart surgery at the time,” Humphrey said. “And this was around the same time that Sanctuary Village was getting off the ground, and I saw that there was a real need for help, and I wanted to do anything I could to help.”

Humphrey refers to Rochester’s Sanctuary Village, a safe haven tent city for the homeless founded by the House of Mercy’s Sister Grace Kelly, described as “a visible protest of Monroe County’s housing and homeless policies.”

“So I just started going out and collecting donations,” Humphrey said. “Every Saturday I was out there, and soon enough I started to gather some volunteers. Some were friends, some were there to take the stuff that no one could eat for animal feed and others just

wanted to help. The numbers changed every week, but rain or shine, we were here.”

At time of writing, FCP has been able to provide fresh food to nine distribution sites and seven shelters. This, of course, is only a drop in the bucket in the face of the menace of poverty found in Rochester. According to an analysis done by the Democrat and Chronicle, over a third of Rochester residents are currently living in poverty, which is defined as an average income of $11,888 or less per year for a single person or $23,624 for a family of four. Even more alarmingly, approximately half of all children born in Rochester are born into poverty.

Perhaps most disturbingly of all, these are not statistics that remotely reflect a national trend. On the national level, only 19.9% of children live in poverty, and that trend is on a downswing. Meanwhile, Rochester tops the list of cities of its size in extreme poverty, with a 2015 report by ACT Rochester declaring that 16.2% of the total population lives on half the amount or less of the poverty threshold.

Janet Keller of the Reformation Luthera man’s daily recommended intake of 2,640 an Church Food Cupboard, which collects calories and almost the entirety of a womand distributes food to churches and the an’s 1,785 calories. community, gave further scope to just how With such a high demand in place and a severe the problem is while picking up dona- large supply available — Humphrey claims to tions from Humphrey. have collected over 1,000 pounds of food per “I saw their ad on Craigslist,” Keller said. day on multiple occasions — FCP has teamed “We’ve got to have food that will last up until up with Food Not Bombs (FNB), a more wellFriday, but we take what we can get. Right known national organization with a chapter now we’re serving 3,500 families just in the in Rochester. inner loop.”

Dave Tolar, 30, joins Humphrey with a By these numbers, the demand for cheap clean shaven head and an effervescent or free food is undoubtedly present. When smile. examining the importance of what groups “[FCP and FNB] have been working tolike FCP do, however, it is not simply a mat- gether for awhile now,” Tolar said. “Khoury’s ter of feeding the hungry, but of circumvent- out here every Saturday, and we’ve got ing some of the inherent costs of food waste. volunteers out here twice a month with him.

According to a 2014 report by the United We’re more on the distribution end of things, States Department of Agriculture, $161.6 while FCP does a great job with collections.” billion worth of edible food at retail price Tolar went on to explain the importance was wasted in 2010, equating to 141 trillion of what these groups do on a fundamental calories worth of food, or 1,249 calories per level. person, per day. This comes to almost half of “It’s really just simple,” he said. “Anywhere

you go and you hear [Food Not Bombs], you know it’s a place you can go for a free meal.

No hassle. And I feel really good about what these two groups are doing. We’ve got a bunch of people together with their heads screwed on right about the politics. That’s what makes it last. However, we do always need more volunteers.”

Humphrey passes local musician Roger Kuhn, busking with his resonator guitar near the market’s entrance. He kneels down and places a single zucchini into Kuhn’s case before heading into the market.

While many vendors welcome FCP and FNB with open arms, there are still bits of resistance found at the market. As Humphrey receives a “Come back later” from a vegetable vendor, he pauses for a moment to discuss a plan of action with his cohorts, his cart hanging just a bit into the walkway.

“You’ve got somewhere else to go, right?” the vendor asked. “You’ve got somewhere else to be?”

$161.6 BILLION WORTH OF EDIBLE FOOD AT RETAIL PRICE WAS WASTED IN 2010 SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Features 21

“SIMPLY PUT, WE’RE TRYING TO START A REVOLUTION”

Humphrey, Tolar and the rest of the volunteers reconvene at the edge of the market, organizing the food based on freshness. RIT alum Sam Richheimer sits at the curb, drawing up signs to attract more donors.

“I’m from Maine,” Richheimer said. “I came down here with plans to just stay for a little bit, but ended up staying a lot longer. Right now I’m just working part-time until I find a job in my field.”

A young woman in red sunglasses and blue highlights in her blonde crop of hair approached the boxes.

“Hi Sam!” she said boisterously, picking up a box of brownies. “I’m just going to take something sweet.”

“Bye Tina,” Richheimer sighed as she sauntered off. “She doesn’t need it, but you got to love her.”

Twice a month, on the second and fourth Saturdays, FNB organizes a community dinner made entirely from donated food and

22 Features

cooked at Saint Joseph’s House of Hospitality on 402 South Ave. The rain sprinkling down overhead falls inches away from a scraggly looking man in a black fleece jacket. He smokes down the final quarter of a cigarette as volunteers carry in boxes of produce, most in studded or patched-up clothes more reminiscent of a punk show than a charity event — perhaps because this is not a charity event.

“Charity is a term that is hierarchical in nature,” FNB’s Rick Yaniak said. “It can be degrading. We consider this an act of solidarity, and this is not just for the poor. Anyone is welcome to join us.”

Yaniak went on to explain the political motivations behind FNB. “At its core, food is not a privilege,” Yaniak said. “It’s a right, and hunger, or to allow hunger, is an act of violence. We encourage everybody to come down here to eat and grab some groceries. We’re against food waste,

and we aim to alleviate the burden of the cost of food.”

Yaniak went onto explain one of the main differences between FNB and charitable organizations doing similar work.

“You’ve got a lot of the 501(c)-ers,” Yaniak said. “And that’s not us, we’re not doing this for any sort of tax thing or profits.”

“501(c)-ers,” as Yaniak refers to them, are non-profit organizations that have been exempt from federal income tax, in this case due to work in a charitable field, but also in cases of medical or scientific research, public safety or amateur sports. The Ronald McDonald House, for example, is a 501(c) organization — an obvious arm of a for-profit organization which is not taxed due to its charitable work. Yaniak believes organizations that aspire to reach this status seek to benefit themselves more than the community.

“AT ITS CORE, FOOD IS NOT A PRIVILEGE,” YANIAK SAID. “IT’S A RIGHT, AND HUNGER, OR TO ALLOW HUNGER, IS AN ACT OF VIOLENCE.” Outside in the rain, a man walking across the street raises in a fist in the air, chanting “Food not bombs!” again and again before entering an apartment across the street.

The man in the fleece jacket, Steve, strolls in and out of the doorway as the volunteers prepare the meal.

“I came in earlier this morning for breakfast,” Steve, a former RIT student, said in a thick Caribbean accent, “and I’ve just stuck around since then.”

As the group discusses and debates different meal options, Yaniak explains his mission in Rochester.

“I got involved initially in December of last year,” Yaniak said. “I recently got back from Berkeley, California. There, they have meals five days a week, with lines reaching out the door. The first time I saw it, I almost had to sit down and cry. And I thought, ‘Why don’t we have that here?’ After that, Lisa and I got involved.”

With that goal in mind, the FNB Rochester chapter is, by all metrics, humble. The space in which they cook is adorned with a children’s painting of Jesus embraced with rainbows on the side wall. In the corner sits

a slowly decaying Sohmer upright piano. The kitchen space is fitted with a couple of stove tops and steel counter tops, with several off-beat volunteers scurrying in and around them.

“We usually have 10 or 20 volunteers,” “Shannon,” a FNB volunteer who wanted her identity to remain anonymous, said. “Things seemed to have slowed down lately, but people come and go.”

Despite the modest numbers, Yaniak, as well as all of the FNB volunteers, agree on the importance of their work and what it means to the community.

“Simply put, we’re trying to start a revolution,” Yaniak said.

Revolution is a simple term, yet draped in a veil of complexity. In essence, it centers around change. But it begs the question: what is change, and where does it start? Perhaps a revolution can be violent, brash, loud, bloody, brimming with fire and smoke and hinged on the death of the oppressors, whomever they may be — or perhaps a revolution can be quiet, hinged on the concern for your fellow man and the undying thirst for a better tomorrow.

For the FCP, the message, the purpose and the power of their mission is summed up by the words of South African HIV/AIDs victim and immortalized advocate of the disease, Nkosi Johnson: “Do all that you can, with all that you have, in the time that you have, in the place where you are.” R

Features 23

ROCHESTER RACE RIOTS: UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNREST

by Ty Clauss | design by Caleb Payne

I

t’s 1956. David A. Anderson walks into the RIT Housing office, looking for a place to settle as he begins his education. Unlike the warm welcome he might receive today, Anderson is met with a turned back and a short reply “Got no room.”

Roughly a year ago, the Democrat and Chronicle shared Anderson’s story, as well as the stories of many others, as the newspaper revisited the culture of the 1950s and ‘60s and what lead to the Rochester Race Riots of 1964. Pick up any high school history book and you will find just a few mentions of Rochester; the triumphs of Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony will most certainly be mentioned, as well as the glory days of the Flower (Flour) City boom and the Kodak era. But one of Rochester’s most notable, and most infamous, claims to fame remains the Race Riots of 1964.

When we look back at the riots of 1964, we have less reason to celebrate our progress and more reason to lament our lack thereof.

Many of the problems associated with the riots from over 50 years ago still persist to this very day July 24, 1964: Twenty-two days after the Civil Rights Act is passed, a block party takes place on Nassau Street in one of the poorer neighborhoods in Rochester. A dance compe-

24 Features

tition with a legal permit is underway as the party swells to about 200 people. Two police officers are on scene for traffic control. A few hours into the night, a young man is sighted by a neighborhood mother; he is acting in a disorderly way, and the officers are asked to

of a pregnant woman being slapped by an officer and a young child being attacked by one of the dogs. Before long, rioters begin to congregate on Joseph Avenue, right next to Nassau Street. All in all, some 400 people join the protest that Friday evening, and all available police officers are forced to respond.

Over the next three days, the riots caused the deaths of five individuals — four of which result from a helicopter that crashed while surveying riot damage — and the destruction of around 200 local stores.

The riots only end after the National Guard is called in to a Northeastern city for the first time and the “Rochester Race Riot” makes headlines across the nation, sneaking its way SOURCE: THE DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE into the history books. take action. They move in to arrest the young 2014: Fast-forward 50 years after the man for public intoxication and things get Race Riots and the populations of both out of hand. As the young man resists arrest the city and, the suburbs have diversified bystanders begin to get involved, attempting significantly, with the percentage of African to free him. Soon, the officers are forced to American population increasing some 35% call in back up, and because they are shortin the city limits and from 0 to 5% in the staffed, a K-9 unit appears on scene. suburbs, according to reporting done by the What should have been a routine arrest Democrat and Chronicle. These changes are escalates into one of the most famous riots significant when you consider the egregious in United States history as the crowd react housing discrimination from the ‘50s and to the dogs, which had been symbols of op‘60s. Beyond these somewhat promising pression and police aggression ever since the housing statistics, however, there is little to Birmingham riots a year prior. Word spreads be optimistic about.

The current unemployment rate for African American people in Rochester is actually two percentage points higher than it was some 50 years ago at the time of the riots. At 18% unemployment, black citizens of Rochester are facing figures approaching those faced during the Great Depression, according to The Rochestarian. Compound this with the rising rates of general impoverishment — Rochester has more people living below the poverty line than all but four other American cities at 31% of its citizens — and you have a situation that is becoming dire.

One would hope, and expect, that racial discrimination has been on the decline since the ‘60s, but there was much more behind the riots of 1964 than just racial tension.

A series of PBS articles created in company with a documentary about the three-day riot suggest that the riot was the release of a long-developing

“BLACK CITIZENS OF ROCHESTER ARE FACING FIGURES APPROACHING THOSE FACED DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION”

article that perception and reality remain to this day two very different things when it comes to Rochester.

“We live such segregated lives — rich and poor, educated and not educated, people of color and whites — Rochester has made it possible for a majority of the population to remain blissfully unaware of the challenges

“ROCHESTER HAS MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR A MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION TO REMAIN BLISSFULLY UNAWARE OF THE CHALLENGES OF THE OTHER PART OF THE POPULATION.” action. The riots in Baltimore and Ferguson have shown that citizens still have the same concerns they did 50 years ago at the time of revolt in Rochester.

Equality and opportunity, or the lack thereof, are constantly on the forefronts of our minds. Where there is inequality and impoverishment, there will always be the capacity for riots and the chance another city will wander its way into the headlines in the worst way. However, if we keep working together as a nation and a world to rid ourselves of these issues and the many others that plague societies around the globe, maybe one day we will live in a world where events like the Rochester race riots are only a lesson that we teach our children so that they might not repeat our mistakes. R

SOURCE: THE ROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

tension caused by crowded housing and a of the other part of the population.” severe lack of job opportunities. These sourcA prime example is the neighborhoods in es of tension sometimes fly under the radar which the majority of the rioting occurred in of what has been titled a “race” riot.

1964 and where 50% of the population is cur“People were stunned as to how could rently living below the poverty line resides this happen in Rochester, you know, an affluare the same. ent eastern city that had Perhaps the city “PEOPLE WERE STUNNED AS of Rochester isn’t so a reputation of being very benevolent and generous,” TO HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN different now than explained Frank Lamb, it was at the time of IN ROCHESTER, YOU KNOW, the mayor of Rochester in the riots over 50 years AN AFFLUENT EASTERN CITY ago. Perhaps the city 1964, to PBS. THAT HAD A REPUTATION OF Jennifer Leonard, of Rochester is still a president and CEO of the powderkeg awaiting BEING VERY BENEVOLENT Community Foundation, the next spark that will AND GENEROUS.” points out in a quote from send its impoverished a Democrat and Chronicle citizens into chaotic

Features 25

A CASE FOR VIOLENT PROTEST: AT T E N T I O N O V E R A N A R C H Y

by Ryan D. Black | illustration by Ryan Kovar | design by Dennae Makel

B

efore peaceful protest helped bring acceptance to several pushes for change in US history, several of such movements were unjustly marginalized and ignored before violent protest grabbed the public’s attention. We are very fortunate to live within a society where we can pursue change through civil and nonviolent means—very often to great success.

The problem with relying on such a system however is that when a minority of the population faces injustice, their rights are left in the hands of an unaffected, and sometimes ignorant, majority. It can take years of mistreatment and protest for such groups to garner the attention and respect of the general masses. By the time that happens, generations have passed without any progress. While violent protest may escalate tension and endanger innocent bystanders and the oppressed alike, it has at times been invaluable in forcing the general populous to pay attention.

This is no more apparent then the struggle to bring general acceptance to the LGBT community. Today, many of us see the recent nationwide acceptance of same sex marriage as a victory achieved peacefully and systematically—first at the ballots and then in the courts—but it was the Stonewall Riots in 1969 that first helped energize activists and gain public attention.

On June 28, 1969 tensions between gay residents of Greenwich Village in Manhattan and the NYPD erupted over the raid of the Stonewall Inn, the latest of many gay bar raids in New York at the time. Fed up with a system that targeted gays and prevented them from meeting openly,

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violence ensued that night and periodically throughout the following week.

Such an outward display of dissent inspired many activists to be more forward with their push for equality. With the one year anniversary of the riots came the first ever Gay Pride Celebrations. Gay Rights groups had participated in picketing and sit-ins the prior few years, but this was an unprecedented attempt at mainstream recognition for the gay community. It successfully invigorated the movement and has since become a well-recognized and continued tradition. The unrest at the Stonewall Inn inspired and enabled those activists to show the public that gay rights were not something to be ignored.

There are those who certainly take advantage of the conditions created by violent protest. Although looting and perpetrating violent crimes delegitimize the claims of the protesters in the eyes of the public, the issues that spark such confrontation should not be ignored because of such individuals. In such cases, the oppressed are not being violent for the sake of anarchy, but because they see no other outlet for change.

By addressing such discrimination as a society we not only help assure those marginalized that they’ve been heard, but we prevent them from feeling the need to riot again. Violent protest can certainly be a double-edged sword, but it is a means, many times the only means, that can allow the most disenfranchised in society to be heard. R

STRENGTH IN PEACE

by Kevin Zampieron | illustration by Ryan Kovar | design by Dennae Makel

W

hether the term brings to mind the image of a lone man standing in front of a tank or a group of students locking arms on their campus quad, nonviolent resistance is a concept found deep into our collective cultural identity. You would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t learned about the demonstrations of Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi in their history class.

But as mass civil unrest leaps off the page of your history textbook and onto the evening news, some have become cynical about peaceful protests feasibility in enacting real change. Some even downplay the successes of nonviolent resistance in favor of more militant protest. Although violence may be a cathartic release in the face of systemic injustice, nonviolent demonstration remains the most effective form of protest.

The effectiveness of nonviolent movements on a large scale is indisputable.

In a Foreign Affairs article that appraised the success of 20th century anti-authoritarian resistance movements, it was found that nonviolent movements succeeded at twice the rate of violent ones. One aspect credited to the success of nonviolent movements is their inclusiveness. The makeup of a violent protest is limited to those who are willing to commit and suffer violence in the name of a cause. Nonviolent demonstrations, on the other hand, require only solidarity and resilience; they’re a much easier sell, so they attract a larger and more diverse crowd.

Not only do nonviolent demonstrations attract a more diverse crowd, but the methods of protest are themselves more varied. A violent protest is limited to the direct physical actions of the protesters.

Nonviolent protest allows a greater breadth of protest methods. While nonviolent demonstrations can be physical with sitins and protest marches, they also come

in the form of boycotts, protest art and activist journalism.

For example, in February of 2012, the band Pussy Riot was arrested for their performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This was a protest of the the Russian Orthodox Church’s support of Vladimir Putin. Even though their protest was simply a performance of a song in a public place, the protest and subsequent trial attracted international attention in favor of Pussy Riot. That small protest succeeded in demonstrating how autocratic Putin’s administration was.

The success of a protest movement is almost entirely dependent upon public perception, making nonviolence vital for the success of a movement in the public eye. When Freddie Gray died in police custody in April of 2015, Baltimore exploded in civil unrest.

While there were numerous nonviolent demonstrations, the majority of media coverage was devoted to looting and rioting perpetrated by the minority of protesters. This violence allowed detractors to more easily discount the many based on the actions of the few. Unfortunately, one burning building speaks a thousand times louder than even the most righteous nonviolent protest.

As a point of comparison, the New York protests of Eric Garner’s death resulted in no major violence or damage to property.

Though the protesters practiced civil disobedience enough to make their point, they did so peacefully. The protesters couldn’t be dismissed as thugs, forcing the media to focus on the message of the protests instead of the actions of the protesters. Once protesters have been labeled as thugs in the court of public opinion, any kind of honest conversation is waylaid. If conversation isn’t possible, legitimate change can’t happen.

The Civil Rights Movement and the Indian Salt March may be history to us, but the principles behind their success are not. From both an ethical and practical standpoint, nonviolent resistance is a vastly superior alternative to violent resistance. Though it may not always seem true, a society has an obligation to the needs of its citizens.

Nonviolent political expression through demonstrations gives a legitimate voice to the voiceless in a way that violence doesn’t and ultimately can’t. Violence can’t build; it can only destroy. R

Views 27

WOTS

WHAT IS YOUR MOST POWERFUL BELIEF?

WORD ON THE STREET photography by Kristen McNicholas | design by Brandon Edquist

Monica Jhuria 1st year graduate student Electrical Engineering

“I believe in the power of nature, it’s total, it can be anything. It’s not in your hands, it’s in the hands of the third power.”

Deepali Kamat 1st year graduate student Computer Science

“Do what you want to do. It’s not about what others think or believe about what you do. If you believe it and feel it’s right, just do it.”

Lily Adams 4th year Bio Technology and Molecular Bioscience

“Everybody should have the chance to do what they want; be it gay marriage, or to go to school, everybody should have the opportunity to do what they want regardless of other’s opinions.”

Jason Leavy 4th year Advertising Photography

“Karma. The past is the best predictor of the future and I’ve found that good things happen to good people but when you’re a rotten egg, it’ll come back to bite you.”

Amy Tran 1st year Electrical Mechanical Engineering Tech

“Anything is possible and the sky isn’t the limit.”

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Jacob Lesekele English Language center student, 2nd level

Chireg Salian 2nd year graduate student Computer Science

“I believe in hard work and the help of God because God has done everything for me up to this stage. The strongest belief for me is believe in your God and everything will be easy.”

“In life no matter how many times you fail never give up. It’s not about failing, just never give up.”

Laura Gordon 2nd year Imaging and Photographic Technology

Meghan Connor 3rd year Imaging and Photographic Technology

“Batman.”

“Hard work and dogs.”

Latish Khubnani 2 year graduate student Computer Science

“If you want to know a person, any person, be a roommate with them for a couple months.

You’ll know from what they eat, how they maintain themselves.

You’ll know what kind of person they are.”

Barjon Andrews 2nd year Computer Engineering Technology

“Anyone can be successful.”

R

Views 29

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