Shut it down Lansing

FRIDAY, DEC. 12 — While some were doing holiday shopping Friday evening at the Lansing Mall, about 40 Lansing area protesters had something else on their minds.

Justice.

Five Lansing residents — Alicia Hicks, 26, Nicole Daniel, 25, Bianca Smith, 26, Dionna Hardin, 26 and Anisa Kelley, 26 — organized a “die-in” at the Lansing Mall and along Saginaw Highway for Friday night.

Die-ins
are peaceful demonstrations for social justice in which participants
lie down in public or semi-public areas, deliberately bringing to mind
the sit-ins that were employed in the 1960’s to peacefully challenge
systemic affronts to Civil Rights.

Die-ins
have been staged by activists across the country recently as a response to the
lack of indictments in the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and
Eric Garner in New York. Hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter, #HandsUp,
#ICantBreathe, #ThisEndsToday and others are being used in social media
to organize efforts to protest and bring awareness to the problem of
excessive force by police and the failure of grand juries to indict. Even those caught on camera.

The organizers waited, shivering, smiling and communicating politely with Lansing police officers as approximately 40 other demonstrators with heavy winter coats and signs began to gather in the parking lot near the Fire Mountain restaurant at 5:45 p.m.

The mall doesn't want us here, Hicks said. We aren't welcome. They've been trying to discourage us all week because they say it's not a good time. But is there ever a good time?

One of the first activists to arrive Friday was Norma Bauer, 69, Lansing.

Well I've been fighting for social justice for a long, long time, said Bauer. Feminism, Civil
Rights, human rights, disability rights. We haven't quite won that
Civil Rights thing. … I really admire these young activists who are
willing to work with local law enforcement in polite ways to bring to
the attention of the American public that we have a broken criminal
justice system.”

The Facebook event for the protest, called Shut It Down, was purposely vague. Participants were asked only to bring their signs and voices.

We are just giving people an opportunity to voice their opinions on recent jury decisions, said Hardin. We do feel connectedness with the people suffering around the country and solidarity with those who are hurting.”

Once the group had assembled the activists walked into the Lansing Mall, watched and followed closely by police officers and mall security. The plan was to meet at the mall fountain and die for four and a half minutes at 6:15 pm.

Michael Brown's body was left in the street for four and a half hours, said Hicks. We knew we couldn't be out there for that long so we chose four and a half minutes to symbolize that.

Protesters were met and surrounded by the authorities and eventually asked to leave. They complied and walked peacefully out of the mall with their hands above their heads, still followed closely by security. Some mall shoppers joined them.

Once outside they began to chant various slogans of solidarity like I can't breathe and Hands up, don't shoot.”

Then they all died in the middle of Saginaw Highway, where they were met both with honks of support and shouts of anger as they blocked traffic. They were on the street for four and a half minutes.

Then they got up and chanted as they marched back to the lot.