UNCG Athletics Equity March Makes Powerful Statement

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Several UNC Greensboro (UNCG) student-athletes, coaches and athletics department staff members marched with a purpose from campus to the Guilford County Courthouse during the Equity March Friday afternoon.

Carrying signs with “I Am Not A Threat”, “Black Lives Matter”, “End Police Violence” and chanting “No Justice, No Peace” and “Say It Loud, I Am Black and I am Proud,” the group walked down Market Street in a march that was held to promote the fight for racial equality and support the inclusive environment within UNCG Athletics. 

As everybody peacefully walked, passing motorists honked car horns in support of the message and onlookers snapped photos. The march started on campus in front of the entrance to Fleming Gym and continued to Market Street.

“Marching for equality means we are marching for the Black community,” senior women’s basketball player and Black Student-Athlete Association co-president Aja Boyd said. “We’re marching for the trans community. We’re marching for the LBGT community. We’re marching for indigenousness people, and we’re marching for all minorities, who feel like they don’t have a place in America or don’t belong. We’re marching to use our voices for the voiceless.

“We’re out here because when you turn on the news, there’s another Black or brown child killed or man or woman. We see mass shootings targeting Asian Americans and those things have to stop. That’s why we’re marching because discrimination has to stop and racism has to stop. That’s why we’re out here today to create change and bring attention to what we know is right.”

In addition to Boyd, who read Margaret Walker's powerful poem “For My People”, there were poignant and inspiring remarks delivered by women’s soccer player Kayla Campbell and men’s track athlete Jonathan Kennedy on the steps of the courthouse where the march concluded.

The march was sponsored by UNCG’s Black Student-Athlete Association (BSAA), a campus-sponsored group that was started by student-athletes in response to the social injustices from last summer in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, and supported by Athletes For Activism and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

“UNCG, especially our BSAA has done so much to really show solidarity not just with our student-athletes, but the Black community in Greensboro and our country as a whole,” UNCG SAAC president and volleyball student-athlete Maria Esch said. “We have strong beliefs and we want to express them, specifically that Black Lives Matter. We will not tolerate police violence, injustice and, sociopolitical structures that make up our country. I am proud to be a part of this march and was grateful for our BSAA for bringing this all together.”

Started in August, the purpose of BSAA was to provide a safe space for Black student-athletes to express themselves and to create a community committed to education, amplifying voices, and unity.
 
Through intimate and informational-led discussions by UNCG's Black student-athletes, awareness has been shared about the current social and political climate. Through impactful monthly Zoom calls, issues that have affected Blacks and their communities have been addressed.

“We are here because of the unfair treatment and injustice minorities face, especially within the African-American community," Kennedy said during his speech on the steps of the courthouse. "With this march, we want to express that we should all be supportive and free to express our full selves without being fearful of the consequences of other opinions. Because promoting equality should not mean stripping us of the things that make us unique. We should have safe spaces where we are not only valued because of our academic achievement or athletic prowess. But we also feel valued and appreciated for just our presence and just existing.”

Later he added: “I am glad to be part of this (march and organization) along with other athletes and individuals who share the same passion and interest,” Kennedy said. “There were a lot of emotions going on. I loved it.” UNCG

NOTE: PHOTOS BY MICHAEL A. REAM III & VIDEO BY DARIAN PHILLIPS