Protests in Cincinnati and across the country continue to take place over racially charged shooting deaths of unarmed black citizens and a lack of indictments for the police officers responsible for them.
On Dec. 10, more than 70 University of Cincinnati medical and pharmacy students staged a “die in” to protest what they called racial inequalities in the justice system.
“This is to stand in solidarity… and to use our platform as medical students, because that’s something we’ve earned and a voice that we have, to call attention to the fact that this is not just a lower socio-economic problem but a problem across the black community and the entire American community,” said Zuri Hemphill, a medical student who helped organize the protest. The event mirrored similar demonstrations at other medical schools across the country.
On Dec. 12, the Cincinnati chapter of the National Action Network staged a demonstration on the steps of the Hamilton County Justice Center, and on Dec. 13, a rally on Fountain Square and march to Washington Park drew more than 150 people.
That event was put together by an independent group of organizers, including Cincinnati resident Christina Brown. Brown says the rally and march were in solidarity with groups protesting in Ferguson, Mo., who called for a national day of action around a grand jury decision last month not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed an unarmed black man named Mike Brown.
The local march also coincided with large protests in New York City and Washington, D.C., where thousands took to the streets. Families of those who have died at the hands of police attended the latter, including the family of John Crawford III, who was shot by Beavercreek Police in a Walmart while holding a toy gun in August, and the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot by police on a playground in Cleveland last month, also while holding a toy gun.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2014.