NC State Unity Rally Against Hate Speech
Jay Dawkins recalls the camaraderie amongst NC State students while attending a Unity Rally against hate speech in 2008.
Interview on 2014-05-21 00:00:00 -0400
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Every leader loves a good rally. [Laughs] So that was a powerful moment. You saw I got a little choked-up earlier about collective action being such a really cool thing.
00:00:13.206
I remember actually Tim Lipka was a great help in organizing this and I just remember staying up late in the office before the rally, still sending emails and trying to get folks out there,
00:00:26.027
and then having the rally in the Brickyard I think was the way to do it. One big theme that recurs from the entire experience there is the events where we tried to get people to come to us, they wouldn't show, but when we go to where the people are, they're already there and they just take a little bit more effort to engage.
00:00:41.440
So that rally was probably one of the bigger student government-led events, and to have all these people standing around the Brickyard was a really powerful thing. It just felt like this amazing energy from people, optimistic and hopeful and kind, and just being able to get up and talk for a minute, or whatever I got to talk for.
00:01:03.437
I love a good call and response. It's one of my favorite things with crowds, [Laughs] getting people all riled up. I remember closing it out with unity of the pack, or whatever, and chanting "Wolf-pack, Wolf-pack." [Laughs] It felt so good.
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