Hundreds of OU students locked arms and marched today in protest of Donald Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in last night's presidential election.
Students met at noon at Dale Hall to hear a speech from J.D. Baker, a public relations junior and a candidate for Student Government Association president, and sing the Black National Anthem before marching.
"There have been a lot of groups that have been marginalized by Donald Trump during this campaign cycle," Baker said. "So this is for us to come together and reaffirm our value in this society despite our president-elect thinking we do not have value."
Students singing the Black National Anthem at the #BlackOUt rally pic.twitter.com/l6YHyrodPp
— Kayla Branch (@kayla_branch) November 9, 2016
Students cheered for Baker as he talked about the value of all people within American society, and afterwards joined together to sing the anthem, led by public affairs and non-profit administration sophomore Vivian Tyson.
"The Black National Anthem isn't so much about being the 'Black' National Anthem, but it's to lift every voice and sing – not just black voices, not just white voices, but every voice," Tyson said.
Tyson said the song was meant to inspire hope for those who are saddened by the election results.
"It means going into a new day, and even though it's a bad day today, joy is coming in the morning, and we are going into a new day knowing that great things are still going to come," Tyson said. "If you Google the lyrics, it's more than just a song. It signifies what we all should stand for."
After singing the Black National Anthem, students locked arms and walked from Dale Hall to the statue of William Bizzell in front of the Bizzell Memorial Library.
Students chanted as they marched down the South Oval: "What do we want?"
The answer: "Justice!"
"When do we want it?"
"Now!"
Once students reached the statue, they formed a group around Baker as he thanked them for their participation in the march. Shortly after, a bystander yelled, "Make American great again, losers." Demonstrators responded: "When they go low, we go high."
Following the march, they joined hands and prayed in a circle.
— Kayla Branch (@kayla_branch) November 9, 2016
After the prayer, Jabar Shumate, the vice president for university community, spoke to students, giving a message from OU President David Boren.
"At the University of Oklahoma, we feel deeply that diversity is a source of our strength as a university family," Shumate said on behalf of Boren. "The election results will in no way change the university's commitment to mutual respect among all members of our community."
Shumate emphasized the importance of the rally and of students coming together.
"I think it's major, because we have come through the most divisive election of my lifetime, and for students of all backgrounds, all races and all walks of life to come together and say we are bigger than hate, is big," Shumate said. "This lets me know that the values of our country and the ability of people to overcome hate (are) much larger and much bigger than whatever happened in those election results last night."
Baker said the idea for the rally started in a GroupMe message called 'OU Black Connections.'
"It's a GroupMe with a lot of different people, almost 500, who are black or are interested in black culture," Baker said. "This came out of it because a lot of people were feeling the same way, and someone said, 'Oh, we should have a blackout,' and more people are saying, 'Yeah!,' and so we got together and started this late last night."
See more photos of the protest here.
