In a post on Facebook yesterday, incoming president of historically black Central State University, Jack Thomas, joined in the conversation surrounding the tragic death of George Floyd, saying “I Stand In Solidarity.”
“#GeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter #BLM,” he added in the post’s caption.
We all should stand by those words
In these times of uncertainty amid the novel coronavirus, many people are working from home or trying to find a job and praying for better days on their block. But lots of things had to be put on the back-burner while the nation witnessed a 9-minute video of a Minneapolis officer grossly putting his knee of the neck of Floyd, killing him.
The officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck the entire time during the duration of the video.
It has since gone viral.
“In America, it is not enough to say that we stand for the guiding principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without concern for gender, race or religion,” said Thomas, suggesting that there’s a large picture. “We must actively live these principles every day. When will see injustice big or small in a grocery store, at our workplace, or on the street, we must act.”
He continued, “President Barack Obama stated that ‘if we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must do better.’ We should all stand by those words.”
In September 2019, the University announced that president Cynthia Jackson-Hammond will be stepping down after the 2019-2020 academic year. Five months later, CSU named him as its next president. The black college’s new man Thomas was the biggest announcement the black university had made since it spoke on the stepping down of the current president Jackson-Hammond.
Read more: Central State President, Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, To Step Down After 2019-2020 Academic Year
The new leader condemned “The needless death of George Floyd” and the “fringe violence it has spawned across the country under the guise of peaceful protests.”
Thomas also said that the matter “weighed heavily upon me.”
“These callous and unwarranted killings [by some people sworn to protect and serve] must stop. Until they do, no American should sit idly by while they continue,” he said, adding “Our actions should not be reactive and random, but rather, like our great Civil Rights Leaders of the 1960s movement, our actions should be strategically planned, coordinated and executed to impact CHANGE.”
