Silence blanketed the crowd of over 100 people on the Rabb steps yesterday as Nyah Macklin ’16 began to sing. “Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood at the root, black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze, strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees,” she sang.

The crowd gathered yesterday afternoon to protest the recent police shooting death of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man who was killed by an officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday. According to a Facebook event made for the march, the call to action was also to stand against racial injustice, both on campus and around the country.

Several student organizers held signs with phrases like, “I am black Brandeis. I am #Ford Hall.” In her remarks, former Student Union President and Ford Hall 2015 negotiator Macklin described the many ways in which black bodies are policed, whether that be through colorism or criticism of traditionally black hairstyles.

Those who support black lives and who seek to fight racial injustice should also step up to the plate, Macklin argued. She asked attendees to dedicate more to the cause than just a hashtag or a social media status. “The riot is the language of the unheard, and we are all comrades in this war. So mourn, … and let this move you,” she said.

As the circle opened up and attendees were invited forward to share their thoughts, several students and community members took the chance to give advice to other attendees, express their frustrations with racial injustice and tell their stories. As he addressed the crowd, Junior Representative to the Board of Trustees Will Jones ’18 split his remarks into two messages: one for people of color and one for people “not of color.”

“I want you to think. I want you to reflect; I want you to understand the differences in our positionality,” Jones said as he addressed people “not of color.” He emphasized the need to protect vulnerable people of color, including transgender people of color.

To people of color, Jones emphasized, “Educating people is not your duty,” he said. “We already have enough to focus on with survival.”

Alex Montgomery HS ’17 spoke about how higher education has treated the black community as if they must constantly feel thankful that they are able to go to college at all. “We’re supposed to feel blessed,” Montgomery said. “We didn’t expect to graduate with an additional degree in trauma.”

Another student stepped forward, asking attendees to close their eyes and reflect back on being five years old and wanting a toy doll. “Was it white?” she asked, going on to ask the crowd if they had ever been followed around a store or whether they had been expected to give an expert’s opinion on slavery. “If you see someone hurting, help them. Just help them,” she urged.

Following several student testimonies and reflections, the event organizers announced that the group would be walking across campus to the Shapiro Campus Center to hold a die-in.

As they marched across campus, the crowd chanted, “No justice, no peace, no racist police” and “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now. If we don’t get it, shut it down,” among other chants.

Once the crowd had filed into the SCC atrium, the organizers asked them to lie down on the ground to simulate the black lives lost to racial violence across the country. As the attendees lay in silence, several organizers read the names of recent lives lost to police shootings and racially motivated crime in the United States.

Before the crowd dispersed, Macklin asked those present to hold hands and form a circle for a brief hymn. “Ancestors watching, I know they’re watching. Ancestors watching, I know. I know,” they chanted.