Rain and cold conditions did nothing to thwart individuals from participating in a Black Lives Matter (BLM) march and rally Saturday afternoon near downtown Ames.

The event was organized by Sean Carlton-Appleton and Abdul Muhammad, co-founders of Ames’ BLM movement. 

A group of about a hundred Iowa State students, faculty and community members participated in the march that began at Brookside Park. The march continued along Sixth Street before making a right turn onto Northwestern Avenue, continuing into the downtown section of Ames before coming to a conclusion at the United Community Church of Ames.

Candidates for the Ames School Board, such as Monic Behnken, professor of criminal justice studies at Iowa State, spoke on the importance of equality in education to attendees of the post-march rally at the church.

Behnken acknowledged the recent research that showed an achievement gap between white and black students at Ames’ schools. Many students and community members spoke of their gratitude for the march and shared their experiences dealing with racism.

Many Iowa State Students acknowledged incidents that have occurred on campus, such as posters that were hung on campus displaying swastikas.

“We have these conversations the wrong way,” Muhammad said. 

Immigrants and multicultural students from Ames High School shared their experiences dealing with racial stereotypes and having labels placed upon them. An individual took to the microphone and sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is widely heralded as the African-American national anthem created by James Weldon Johnson in 1899.

Natasha “Tasha” Hill, sophomore in global resource systems, said there had not been much activism on Iowa State’s campus and needed to attend the event for herself. Hill had received an invite to the march through Facebook and sent it to her friends. Ebere Agwuncha, sophomore in pre-agriculture, was a student in attendance who migrated with his family from Algeria to America at a young age.

“No one is talking about discrimination, no one is talking about prejudice, no one is talking about labels and Trump’s president,” Agwuncha said. “You don’t have to be against your own culture.” 

Walter Svenddal, sophomore in computer engineering, said he decided to attend to support his friends. Svenddal said he found comfort in being surrounded by individuals with diverse backgrounds at the rally.

“The message from today was really an empowering, solid message,” Svenddal said.