Sac State hosts week of events following DA’s decision

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Mitchel Bobo - The State Hornet

Members of “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer,” perform at the University Union Ballroom Monday. The phone number in the background connects to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

The State Hornet Staff

In the week after Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s announced the decision to not press charges against the two officers who shot and killed 22-year-old Stephon Clark, activists occupied events and city council meetings, demanding change.

Marches demanding solidarity, street corner vigils and teach-ins became common sights all over the city. Sacramento State was no exception, hosting a wide variety of community events throughout the week after the DA’s announcement, including healing circles and special events.

Starting Monday morning, Sac State President Robert Nelsen replaced his scheduled town hall meeting with a community discussion about the DA’s decision.

RELATED:  Town hall shifts to address Stephon Clark through performance art

“The weight and pain of this weekend’s decision regarding the police shooting of Stephon Clark is too heavy to ignore,” President Nelsen said at the event.

The discussion also hosted a performance from Sacramento/Black Art of Dance that featured cell phones as props as a reference to the phone that Clark was carrying when he was shot by Sacramento Police.

Sac State alumnus DeWayne Lemont, known by his stage name Consci8us, took the stage to perform two songs in tribute to Clark.

The opening act of “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer” was also performed by Sac State students.

Healing circles were also hosted in the Multi-Cultural Center and the Martin Luther King Center.

On Wednesday The Task Force for the Center on Race, Immigration, and Social Justice hosted the event “Neo-Colonialism and Resistance: Indigenous Communities on the Move,” in the library gallery.

RELATED: Professor hosts art reception to raise awareness on immigration, social justice

Manuel Barajas, the chair of the task force, said he brought experts, scholars and artists all together in one place to help students understand the causes of immigration.

“We need to move away from the them versus us mentality and all come together,” Barajas said. “We need to achieve understanding by listening to other points of view.”

Sac State also hosted a lecture from UCLA professor Kelly Lytle Hernández about her project Million Dollar Hoods. Million Dollar Hoods tracts the history and costs of mass incarceration in Los Angeles.

Hernández said she hopes that by showing the costs of incarceration, she can promote what she calls “justice reinvestment,” where the millions of dollars spent on keeping mostly men of color in jail can be better spent on schools, housing and substance abuse services.

RELATED: Researcher visits Sac State to discuss cost of mass incarceration

Sac State students also joined students from Sacramento City College, UC Davis and Burbank High School in a walkout that began at Sacramento City College and ended at the California State Capitol.

Among the Sac State students marching were members of the Black Student Union that were arrested after the protest on Monday night.

Andrew Ohaeri from Sac State’s Nigerian Student Association was one of the students arrested.“That shit sucked,” Ohaeri said. ”That shit sucked because for one, I’m 20 years old, I never thought I’d be arrested, and then be arrested for that reason right there of exercising my right of freedom of speech.”

Mitchel Bobo, Will Coburn, Camille Escovedo, Aaron Jackson, Jordan Silva-Benham, Reanna Simmons, Clarissa Pacheco and Janelle Williams contributed to this report.

RELATED: Sac State students join Sacramento walkout for Stephon Clark