After the verdict to not indict Officer Darren Wilson of any charges, people started contacting Nathaniel Thomas, the president of the Ethnic Theater Alliance, asking him if ETA was going to do something.
“As the verdict was coming out, it was a little surprising that we were getting the emails and the Facebook comments to please do something,” Thomas said.
ETA is having a candle light ceremony at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 to shed light on the events that have happened in Ferguson, Missouri and show they are here in support.
“So many people have been lost in the darkness of this world in which we are fighting for and this change we are demanding,” Thomas said. “No matter large or small, we all have to be one unit to make it happen and so this candle light ceremony is to show when we hit social media Wednesday night, it’s to show Ball State is one, we’re a unity and we stand with you guys.”
Shay Stewart, the treasurer for ETA, posted on the group page after the verdict was delivered to tell the group they needed to do something.
"We were overwhelmed at everyone’s eagerness to start a conversation about race relations [in August] and so when the verdict came out, I felt it was important to continue that conversation and make sure it wasn’t forgotten," Stewart said.
She said holding the candle light ceremony was a way to acknowledge that this still needs to be talked about.
"It's a way to pay respect at a basic, necessary, human level to Mike Brown and his family," Stewart said.
In August, ETA hosted a peaceful protest to encourage people to “pop their bubble” and to become more aware of what was going on in the world.
At the protest, Amelia Windom, a senior acting major and member of ETA, said police brutality needs to end.
“I understand that they need to do their job and protect people, but there are other ways,” she said. “They need to be trained differently and look through the eyes of the law, since they are the ones holding up the law.”
She said she hoped the first march shows people that this isn’t just a one-time thing.
“This has been happening for dozens of years and we need to come together to protect black men and women,” she said. “Just because someone is poor and uneducated doesn’t mean they deserve to be shot.”
Since the August protest, Thomas said it will be important for students to continue to voice protest the police brutality.
“We have a responsibility now because we brought it to Ball State to continue it at Ball State and in the peaceful manner we brought it in we will continue it in,” Thomas said.
Thomas said because of that, he thought people took it to heart and started to watch the news and form opinions on situations that have been going on.
Although the verdict was released Nov. 24, Thomas said he wanted to wait to do something.
“I knew things were going to get uglier before they got prettier,” Thomas said. “We’re going to let everybody take their action and see what happens so when we do what we are supposed to do we do it appropriately, gracefully, respectfully to the family and above all else, we honor our organization and what we believe in.”
Thomas said ETA’s job was to make sure people know about what is going on.
“Having this might bring some people who don’t know what’s going on and it might bring back people who know what’s going on and that’s fantastic,” he said. “It’s important there’s an organization that does it, important to have an organization to support it and that we as a university and a student body come together to say ‘We’re going to make it through this together.’"
While not all students have the same view on the verdict, Thomas said they will respect the view point of anyone who comes.
“All we ask that is if you come, you stand in unity,” he said. “Whether you’re fighting for either side, the point is that we light these candles in purity and that our nation will continue as one.”
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