The names of 40 black men and women were read aloud on Turlington Plaza.
On Friday afternoon, more than 300 students, faculty and staff came together for a peaceful demonstration to honor those who were fatally shot by police so far this year.
Students were asked to wear white to the event hosted by UF Black Affairs.
Khyra Keeley, the event organizer and social justice and advocacy chair of UF Black Affairs, said the demonstration wasn’t about mourning but about celebrating life.
“We focused on celebrating who they were and what their lives meant,” the 19-year-old UF political science and African American studies student said. “We weren’t here to just talk about the moment of their death.”
As she copes with police-involved shootings that seem to never end, Keeley said she feels exhausted and frustrated.
The demonstration comes three days after the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, 43, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and two weeks after Terrence Crutcher’s Sept. 16 death in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Crutcher and Scott are two of at least 707 people — 164 of them black men — who were shot to death by law enforcement this year, according to a Washington Post database.
“We’re tired of losing our brothers and sisters to meaningless violence,” Keeley said. “We’re tired of going on Facebook and seeing videos of people being killed. We’re tired of saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ and trying to explain what that means.”
Alisha L. Perkins read the name of one of the victims.
“Dyzhawn L. Perkins,” the 20-year old UF linguistics junior declared. “He was 19, and he was unarmed.”
She said the victim could have easily been a part of her family.
“He has my last name,” she said. “That could have been my brother, my sister, my dad, my mom.”
Perkins said she feels UF students have the opportunity to provoke change in the community.
“Legitimately, enough is enough,” she said. “I’ve heard too many names, heard about too many people, seen too many hashtags.”
David Parrott, UF’s vice president of Student Affairs, said he thought Friday’s reading was powerful.
“We allowed students’ voices to be heard and that’s what it’s all about,” he said.
Despite the heightened tensions between the public and law enforcement, Parrott said local law enforcement has done a good job mending relationships.
“I’m impressed by the University Police and by the Gainesville Police that I have met and interacted with,” he said. “I find them to be committed to listening and to paying attention.”
He said to enact change students should fight hate with love.
“Let’s continue to care for each other and demonstrate that,” he said.
Ebony Love, a 20-year-old UF history junior recites the poem "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou Friday afternoon in Turlington Plaza. Love helped organize a demonstration to call attention to the police-involved shootings of black men and women.
