The University of Missouri has been blowing up in the media these past two weeks, and not for good reasons. Not many people know what started all of this, I being one of them when I initially gained interest in the topic. With some research, you can find that the events date back to their homecoming parade when there was a demonstration by black students about the struggles of blacks at Mizzou since its inception, which included being built using slave labor. Here is a video that shows the occurrence in full:

Some may say that they shouldn't have disrupted the parade, or no one wants to hear of things like this during what should be a happy time, they brought it upon themselves, and so on and so forth.The students were upset because it was a peaceful demonstration that quickly escalated with no reaction or engagement whatsoever from their President, Tim Wolfe. What this video doesn't show is the heartbreak of the students after they were pushed out of the street and leered at for their actions. You can see the pain on their faces, that which comes with not being heard or appreciated and overwhelming frustration and fear for the stall of progress. The evidence of this can be seen on vimeo, a video posted by Columbia Missourian called Protest Stops Parade shows this devastation.

Following this, there was no acknowledgement whatsoever of these happenings by their president who had a front row seat in his convertible which was involved in the incident, and it wasn't until students were calling for his removal that he spoke out. There have been hunger strikes, football strikes by the black players, protests, and other things of the same nature.

So why are these events important, why would these events be a good thing?

There has been a sort of unity with Mizzou that is a huge step for the progress of racial relations in our nation. On university campuses across the country there have been marches, protests, and a day of solidarity in which students dressed in all black to represent their unity with Mizzou students. Hashtags like #InSoldiarityWithMizzou #ConcernedStudent1950 and several others became trending topics across several different social media platforms; and universities adopted their own version, as did St. John's with #SJUStandsWithMizzou.

This is a great thing in the way that it showed people that there can be truly peaceful protests that will lead to the outcomes that you desire. It shows that black people who are suffering are capable of more than just the animalistic behavior that many expect of us. This also shows that we are able to come together in unity, no matter our location, from all across this nation for a good cause.

It also allowed students on other campuses to feel empowered enough to speak out about any negative experiences they had on their own campuses. People may not think that this is a good thing, but it is better to talk about what is going on, to get a dialogue going and acknowledge our issues than to let them simmer below the surface until it explodes.

We, as a nation, as Americans, have to do better. We have to unify, accept each and every person, no matter their race, religion, gender, sexuality etc. Not because they are "American" but because they are human beings who deserve the right to the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that is discussed in our constitution. It may not seem like it, but this is progress, and it will lead to more progress, and a snowball effect will occur. So, even though the situation is not a good one in and of itself, let us look at how we can benefit from this and use it as motivation to continue to make a difference.