For most African Americans, #BlackLivesMatter is welcoming and long-overdue vanguard movement that helps provide a nationwide platform for important dialogue on black issues and to air grievances against unjust aspects of American society. For most conservatives, #BlackLivesMatter is the scourge of society, a dangerous outlaw outfit that has been vilified because it allegedly encourages violence against white people and police officers.
Therefore it is apropos that a prominent member of academia has made #BlackLivesMatter an important part of the college campus discussion in order to procure a proper understanding of what it means and what it really stands for.
The president of historic Morehouse College, Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr., has turned heads and opened eyes when he announced that he has started a monthly meeting called #BlackLivesMatter Presidential Dialogue for the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Consortium, which includes Morehouse, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse School of Medicine.
According to the school, Silvanus will meet with students to discuss topics including violence against black people and LGBT issues. This is in response to recenet and sustained student activism on the Atlanta University Center Consortium.
The president will be joined by students and faculty members from Morehouse, Spelman and Clark Atlanta University to talk about issues ranging from sexual assault across campuses, to violence against black people, to a more responsible embrace of the College’s LGBTQA students.
“Simply, the design of the dialogue is to have an institutional space for activist talk and action where at the conclusion of each meeting, there will be a tangible action item employed that will demonstrate our community’s understanding of Black Lives Matter issues and needed solutions,’’ Wilson said. “At Morehouse, we want to get this right,” he told students during a discussion held at the Davidson House Center for Excellence, the president’s official residence.
That initial discussion was the catalyst for the monthly dialogue, which officially begins in January 2016 and will continue to be hosted at the Davidson House.
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