“Right is not always popular, nor is right always comfortable. Right is never convenient, and right always comes at a cost,” said the Rev. Rodney Coleman, the keynote speaker at the worship service that followed the march at First Baptist Church on North Roberson Street.
The rally’s keynote speaker was freshman Madrid Danner-Smith, who spoke about the covert nature of modern racism.
“I liked (Danner-Smith’s) point about the invisible and internal prejudices we all have,” said freshman Fhoenix Frager.
Senior Adreonna Simmons echoed Danner-Smith’s argument and said her identity as a black female motivates her to show up for social justice.
“We think of racism as something overt — in history books you read about people being attacked by dogs and sprayed by water. That’s not something we see today,” she said. “But microaggressions happen to us every day.”
Coleman urged activists to join together with those truly invested in the movement for racial justice and equality — those who wouldn’t quit when the going got rough.
“We already know where those outside the movement stand, but the question is, ‘Who am I standing beside in the movement?’” he said. “We can talk the same talk, but we need to make sure we’re walking the same walk.”
Coleman also said racial justice activists should avoid becoming complacent when people in power try to placate them without achieving true equality.
