On November 10th The University of Cincinnati got a surprise visit by Reverend Jesse Jackson; a civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and a politician. He came to talk about #TheIrate8 and to give a message of hope to the black students of UC.
His message was simple: The black students of the University of Cincinnati must keep with their education and register to vote if they want to make changes.
That was his message because as he stated “it’s hard to oppress a truly educated person” as well as “when I’m not registered to vote I’m dismissible.” To make these points clear to the student body, that he was speaking to, he made the whole room chant “when I’m not registered to vote I’m dismissible,” as well as “turn pain into power.” Reverend Jackson wanted to make sure that his message got through to the student body.
Jackson also explained to the students that they must demand a timetable, as well as updates on progress for the University of Cincinnati.
But the most powerful point that Rev. Jackson stated was “Go forward out of hope rather than backwards out of fear.” We need to go forward as a community, The University of Cincinnati, and hope for changes instead of retracting based on our fears that we have.
The University of Cincinnati has the power to truly ignite change, to make this university a more equal and safer place for all of its students.