VALDOSTA, Ga. — A handful of Valdosta State University students and alums gathered Monday at West Hall to protest the deaths of black men across the nation. 

Event organizers spoke about their reasons for wanting to put the demonstration together. 

After learning about the Alton Sterling and Philando Castille officer-involved shootings,”It made me sad,” said Kimberlin Kelly, event organizer and VSU student. “I wanted to get the word out that in Valdosta, of all places, we are not going to take this. It is sickening to see our black men murdered for things that are minuscule and could be handled better.

“The reason I wanted to have the march is to let the community know we care about them as VSU students,” Kelley said. “We are part of the community so we want to help the community. “

For event organizer and VSU alum Elan Waite, 22, the demonstration was about taking the next step after making posts on Facebook. 

“What made me start (the demonstration) is that after everything that happened, there was a huge protest in Atlanta and I couldn’t make it,” she said. “I was here and so I guess every time something like this happens—police brutality happens there is this rage. The first thing people do is go to Facebook. So we thought what’s the next step.” The demonstration is a call to action, Waite said.

Kelley spoke about how residents will get on social media and complain but never take action.

“They just get on the app and log out and go to sleep the next day and forget all about it,” she said. “I didn’t want to be that person to just be tweeting about the injustice thats been happening and lay my phone down and wake up the next morning and act like nothing happened. We are here to let people know that we are not going to stand here and let this happen to us.”

VSU’s NAACP Collegiate Chapter President Jasmine Martin spoke out about the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castille and Kendrick Johnson.

She said that a protest is not a final solution but is to “show that as African-Americans … we can come and stand together and stand still for cause that’s bigger than us.”

VSU alum Sabre Sims spoke about “getting everybody in the community on the same page and that to him the purpose of the protest is to “bring everybody together peacefully.”

VSU student Mia Rawls recognized the VSU police officer in the room. 

“He is here to keep us safe and to perform his civic duty and watch over us and we thank you for that today,” she said. “We will not apologize about how we feel about what is going on, but we also do recognize the civic servants who are doing their jobs and doing what they are supposed to do.”

Rawls spoke on community planning after grieving for those that have been lost. That as a community they need to “designate some sort of leadership … then come up with specific goals.”

She listed public transportation, getting involved in local politics, supporting black owned communities, mentoring children and getting blacks registered to vote as potential goals. 

Rawls announced a potential community planning meeting in the next few days. 

The demonstration ended with campus minister Martiez Moore with Xchange Ministries reading scriptures and praying. 

The demonstration was originally to be held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument, but was moved to West Hall after the Valdosta Police Department asked for the march to be delayed until Thursday, Kelley said. She has no plans to hold another demonstration this week.

The demonstration lasted about 20 minutes with 45-50 people in attendance.

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1256.