Page 42 - Florida Sentinel 12-18-20

National
Noah Harris is the first Black male elected student body president of Harvard Univer- sity.
Danielle Geathers, student body president of MIT.
Casey Goodson Shooting Is Renewing Calls For Change In A City Fighting Deeply Rooted Racism
A Wave Of Black Students Takes Presidencies At Top-Tier Universities
Jason Carroll, student body president of Brown University.
Naomi Riley, student body president of UCLA.
Casey Goodson was return- ing home from a dental appoint- ment and picking up Subway sandwiches for his family, his mother says, when he became the latest Black man in Columbus, Ohio, killed by police in recent years.
While it remains under investi- gation, his death has prompted calls for police accountability in a city that has felt the weight of racial inequalities for generations. "They're given a badge to serve, to protect us, but because of the color of Black men's skin, they are not protected. They become tar- gets," Goodson's mother, Tamala Payne, told CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday.
Goodson, 23, was shot Friday by a 17-year veteran of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, identified as deputy Jason Meade.
Authorities are investigating. There was no body camera
CASEY GOODSON
footage, and Goodson was not being sought at the time. Sharon Payne, Goodson's grand- mother, told a 911 dispatcher that she found her grandson lying in a doorway after hearing gunfire and she does not know who shot him, according to a recording obtained by CNN from the Columbus Divi-
sion of Police.
Family attorney Sean Walton
told CNN that Goodson was not alleged to have committed any crimes, had no criminal back- ground, and was not the target of any investigation. A review of court records did not show more than minor, traffic-related of- fenses.
City leaders and residents be- lieve Goodson's death highlights systemic racism in law enforce- ment in Columbus and other com- munities.
"Casey's case is just another reminder that the work continues and that racism is everywhere and wehavetodothehardworkasa nation to root it out," Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said. "Racism is a part of this country, part of our cities and a part of just who we are. And we can't allow the challenges and how ubiquitous it is to overwhelm us in terms of where we go from here."
Harvard University under- grad Noah Harris arrived at a Black Lives Matter protest in June in his home state of Mis- sissippi bearing sunglasses, a bandana mask and a “say their names” sign. By summer’s end, he led his classmates in raising $300,000 for Black advocacy and civil rights organizations.
His work grabbed the atten- tion of his fellow Harvard un- dergrads, who elected him as their first Black male student body president last month. Harris, 20, is a part of a wave of Black student body presi- dents recently elected at top- tier academic institutions where Black students have been historically underrepre- sented.
The uptick coincides with the racial and political inter- lockings of Covid-19, the Black Lives Matter movement and a surge of political polarization on and off college campuses, the Black student presidents said. They added that these is- sues either influenced how they campaigned or repriori- tized their goals once elected.
Harris said he knew that he and his vice president, Jenny Gan, would have to meet this “unprecedented time.” They ran on “building tomorrow’s Harvard” with an emphasis on “diversity, inclu- sion, health, wellness and stu- dent life” aimed at holding “Harvard accountable to its commitment to anti-racism” work and making the most of remote learning.
Harris is part of a cohort of
Black student body presidents at predominantly white institu- tions across the country. Jason Carroll of Brown Uni- versity, Danielle Geathers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Naomi Riley of the University of California, Los Angeles, all took office in May. Midshipman Sydney Barber is the first Black woman to become brigade commander, the U. S. Naval Academy’s version of a student body president.
Universities often create “forums and committees and working groups without actu- ally having to listen to Black students. My effort and atten- tion has shifted to how the uni- versity interacts with Black students, the Black community in Providence as a whole, and ensuring Black voices are not pushed to the side” Carroll said.
Geathers is the first Black woman to become student body president at MIT.
Geathers and her running mate Yu Jing Chen’s plat- form was “unity, equity and au- thenticity,” by boosting the “diverse perspectives and expe- riences” as a student body.
“I was always focused on di- versity and inclusion issues,” Geathers said. “After the summer being really focused on anti-Black racism, I was able to be more unapologetic about now being the time. Most of my efforts go towards one of the biggest initiatives I took on: getting MIT to use one or more Black owned banks.”
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 23-A