This weekend, Black Student Alliance (BSA) painted a Black Lives Matter mural in front of University Commons. This project took about five days to complete, but the end result was worth all the hours of creating, outlining, and painting that were put into it. This mural is a step forward in making EMU a safe place where everyone can feel at home regardless of their background, ethnicity, race, etc. During the past few months, the Black Lives Matter movement has been extremely active in protesting, changing the hearts of others, and most importantly being a part of a greater change. All this in hopes that one day the fighting for equality that has been ongoing for decades will finally come to an end. Instead of People of Color needing to show others why we should have a right to live freely, we will be welcomed with open arms. 

BSA is well aware that this mural could potentially provoke negative comments and  weird looks from people who don’t support the Black Lives Matter movement. But it’s a good thing for people to finally open their eyes and to face the fact that this is our reality. We are not going to cover up our truth to make other people comfortable. Changes need to be made: changes in government, in mindset, in our society, the list goes on, but that only can happen if people come together, and decide to make that change. Even if this mural may not be seen by someone who is in power, it could be seen by someone who needs a change of perspective, and this mural could move something inside them to start that transformation. 

The BLM mural also might give a sense of comfort to a student who is new to EMU, feeling out of place in a predominantly white school. When I enrolled at EMU, that’s how I felt the first couple of weeks. If this mural had been around when I first came to EMU, I would have felt more at home, and it would have made adjusting to school easier. Everytime I walk past the mural, it makes me feel empowered, confident, and happy that my school agreed to let BSA create this masterpiece. This shows me that even though many people at EMU haven’t experienced the struggles that I and many others have gone through, being people of color, they are aware of what is going on and will be allies with me and with every community of people who have experienced injustice.