Photo Courtesy of FAMU Student Government Association.
The annual Strike Out Showcase at Florida A&M University, scheduled for 7 p.m. today will focus on gun violence.
According to Student Government Association Senate President Rochard Moricette, every year the showcase addresses important issues that need to be discussed on campus. The 45th Student Senate started this showcase to bring awareness to police brutality.
Since the showcase was started, it has also focused on domestic violence and racism. This year the showcase will bring awareness to gun violence.
Moricette says it is important to bring awareness to gun violence because of the crime rates in the black community.
“We understand police brutality; however, majority of gun violence occurs within the black community,” he said.
Moricette believes that stronger gun laws are needed, because certain people should not be able to possess guns. Moricette says this is how school shootings occur, like the mass shooting in Parkland last Feb. 14 that took the lives of 17 students and staff.
According to the chair of SGA’s Student Relations Committee, Taylor Young, the theme of gun violence was chosen because that gun violence is all around us. Black on black crimes, police brutality and mass shootings are all relevant today and it is getting out of control, Young says.
Past SGA member Peachlin James says that it is critical to bring awareness to gun violence, because people are losing their lives and there are no rules to it. James believes that better safety rules are needed, especially with the wrong people having guns.
She says that anyone can get a gun and it should not be that easy. James says that the Strike Out Showcase will open the eyes of many students and will showcase that gun violence is a huge issue in the state of Florida. James hopes that students will think twice about having a gun.
Senate President Moricette says that students can expect performances from different student organizations on and off FAMU’s campus, such as Elite, MSE, Erykah Johnson and more related to the topic in a unique and creative way.
The showcases starts at 7 p.m. at Gaither Gym.