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Dig Bos

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HARVARD STUDENTS FLY FLAGS UPSIDE DOWN TO ACKNOWLEDGE VICTIMS OF POLICE VIOLENCE

Written by DIG STAFF Posted May 1, 2015 Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS

HARVARD HEADER

Rodney Walker was killed by a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

At 7am today, just like on most days, grounds workers at Harvard University hoisted the American flag over the bronze statue of John Harvard in the yard named for the school and its clergyman co-founder. There to meet them this morning, however, was a small group of students carrying shopping bags full of miniature American flags. Not just any Old Glorys, but rather ones turned upside down, and each marked with the name and age of a victim of police violence in 2015. Nearby, the group left notes inscribed with Title 35, Chapter 10 of the the United States Code:

 

“THE FLAG SHOULD NEVER BE DISPLAYED WITH THE UNION DOWN, EXCEPT AS A SIGNAL OF DIRE DISTRESS IN INSTANCES OF EXTREME DANGER TO LIFE OR PROPERTY.”

 

FLAGS TOP

Andrew Anthony Williams was killed by police in Putnam County, Florida

 

The letter students left behind further explained:

 

The police have killed 388 people this year alone.

 

Our communities are in extreme danger, and these flags are one of the many, many signals of our distress.

 

Each flag on display bears the name of one person we lost. You might not have heard these names – they are rarely reported. We invite you to spend some time here, read the names, and feel the scale of this violence.

 

388 people in 5 months.

 

Your peace is violence.

 

2015-05-01 07.14.15

 

In another quad not far away, outside of the Harvard Law School Library, a second group of students orchestrated a complementary action with the same message—only much bigger in size, and slung between enormous pillars. We showed up right after they finished setting up their spectacle, and asked how long they expected it to last. As one of them began to answer, another pointed to a campus security guard making a call on his radio.

 

FLAGS 1

DIG STAFF

Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.

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Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Black Lives Matter, Cambridge, harvard, Harvard Yard, police brutality, police killings, police violence, Protest

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DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]