CAMPUS IGNITOR
NBLSA 2014-2015 Campus &
Community Advocacy Package
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Purpose:
NBLSA’s theme for 2014-2015 is “Igniting the Spirit of NBLSA on the Road to 50”. This theme requires that we examine what the “Spirit
of NBLSA” is and then awaken that spirit. NBLSA was created during the unrest of the 1960’s. Black students were actively engaged in
struggles for liberation. The engagement of those students manifested itself in the creation of organizations like the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the Black Panthers. The National Black Law Student
Association was also founded during this time. We believe the Spirit of NBLSA is grounded in a philosophy, which mandates that we be
active in issues of social-justice. The Advocacy Team is hoping to help Ignite this Spirit among our membership and local chapters. We
believe this can be done only when members are invested in advocacy initiatives.
NBLSA recognizes that our renewed commitment to advocacy corresponds with the 50th Anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer.
Freedom Summer was an initiative spurred by the members of SNCC. It involved “four main phases of programming: voter registration,
Freedom Schools, community centers, freedom registration.” Members of SNCC converged onto Mississippi to help work alongside
oppressed African-Americans of Mississippi. These students put their lives at risk in order to help create progressive change. The
Mississippi Freedom Summer was an example of grassroots organizing. Ella Baker, advisor to SNCC, believed that organizations
should let their members determine what initiatives to pursue. She believed that people knew the issues that impacted them and that
people could advocate on their own behalf. As we try to ignite the Spirit of NBLSA and commemorate the Mississippi Freedom
Summer, the Advocacy Team encourages this kind of grassroots organizing. It is our hope that this package helps local chapters
determine ways to become more engaged on their campuses and communties.
SNCC documents are dispersed throughout this advocacy package. The documents were found in the Ella Baker archive at the
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Hopefully, these documents will help provide more information about the goals and
strategies used during Freedom Summer. It is also our hope, that these documents will inpire you to act with the same courage as
students did during Freedom Summer to have a positive impact on our community and help lift up the voice of Blacks in America.
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Steps to Become Engaged:
1. Identify issues to address
Every community has issues that need to be addressed. Examine problems on your campus, or in the larger community, that
you believe need to be addressed.
2. Find peers who recognize these issue(s) as problem
Speak with local BLSA chapter members and ask if they feel similarly about the problems you have identified.
3. Organize yourselves around common goals
After finding likeminded individuals, determine the specific issues you plan on addressing.
4. Determine a plan of action to address the problem(s)
Create a strategy about how to effectively raise consciousness and create change in your community.
5. Execute the plan
Act! Follow through with the plan that you create. Stay motivated and remember the reason for your actions. During Freedom
Summer students risked their lives in order to effectuate change.
6. Spread the Word
Inform NBLSA and regional BLSA chapters and contact national and local media outlets of your efforts.
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Possible Issues to Address:
Issues of campus climate
 In 2014, Dartmouth Students staged a sit-in in the office of the university’s president. The students were
protesting the lack of inclusivity on campus towards minorities.
 In, 2014 law students at Washington and Lee issued demands that their university remove confederate flags
from their campus.
Issues of diversity
 In 2014, students at the University of Minnesota issued demands to the university to recruit more students of
color.
 In 2014, UCLA students released a video about the small amount of Black students in the law school
Issues of economic justice
 In 2014, students at the University of South Florida protested the low wages of workers at a box store.
 In 2014, students at Tufts University protested the university over alleged violations of the janitorial staff’s
contracts.
Issues of concerning international human rights
 In 2014, students at DePaul University passed a referendum demanding the university divest from Israel
because of human rights violations against Palestinians.
Issues of environmental justice
 In 2014, students chained themselves to the Whitehouse fence in opposition to the XL pipeline.
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Possible Plans of Action:
Town Hall Meetings
 It is important to try to gain allies when you are attempting to create change on campus. Town hall meetings
will allow you to articulate your goals to the larger community. The will also provide a chance to persuade
people to join in your struggle.
Things to determine:
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Decide on dates to hold town hall
Secure a location
Publicize event
Determine format
 Will there be a panel?
 Will you have moderator?
 Will there be a speaker?
 How long will the question and answer portion be?
Social Media Campaigns
 Facebook pages, YouTube videos, and twitter hashtags can help garner attention for your cause. Social
media can also provide a platform for conversations about the causes you are promoting.
Things to determine:
o Who will be in charge of the social media pages?
o What messages will you send out?
o How will you engage with dissenting opinions on social media?
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Petitions
 Having people sign a petition allows for face to face conversations. It will help you promotes your cause and
show school and community officials that you have wide support for your cause.
Things to determine:
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Who will draft the petition?
What language will be used in the petition?
How will you get signatures?
Who will you send the petition to?
What happens if your petition does not result in change?
Direct Action
 Protest, sit-ins, boycotts, and demonstrations were the hallmark of protest movements of the past. Direct
action will bring attention to your cause and show the seriousness of those protesting.
Things to determine:
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What will you do?
Where will you protest?
How will you engage with people when you are protesting?
How long will the protest last?
Will the protest be sustained or a onetime event?
Will you ask other members of the community to join you?
Will you host a “Know Your Rights” Training?
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Knowing Your Rights
Amendment IV – The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to
be seized.
Whether you are a US citizen or not
3 Levels of police/citizen encounters
● Consensual – casual conversation ○ Evidence level required – Zero
○ Freedom to leave – yes
○ ID required
– no
○ Legal search – plain sight or consensual
○ Example: Officer knocks on door to ask if you saw anything
● Investigative Detention- Temporary detainment for further info.
○ Evidence level required – Reasonable
Articulable Suspicion
■ Visible paraphernalia (Ziplocks, rolling papers, pipes)
■ Tools for B&E (Crowbar, slim jim,
weapons)
■ Profiling (Paper tag, DARE/Police decals, College attire, Gangster attire)
○ Freedom to leave – no
(approx. 15-20 minute max)
○ ID required – not in 26 states (exception: you’re a driver)
○ Legal search: frisk, plain sight, or consensual
○ Example: Officer sees you wearing a ski mask at night.
●
Arrest – Taken into police custody
○ Evidence level required – Probable Cause or warrant
○ Freedom to leave –
no
○ ID required – yes
○ Legal search: frisk, plain sight, consensual, or warrant
○ Example: Officer catches you
breaking and entering
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Best Practices to Exercising Your Rights Safely
○ Always be polite, respectful, and keep hands visible
■
Reduce Exposure to Suspicion
● Crack door/window unless ordered to open fully
○ Clarify it’s an order, a request
is not an order.
● Keep questionable items out of plain sight:
○ prescription bottles / medicine
○ hookahs
○
rolling papers
○ measuring scale
○ firearms/weapons
■ Ask to leave often
● Omitting to ask = voluntarily
staying
■ Ask for cause
● Officers must articulate observed suspicions
■ If requested to do anything, clarify you
will if it’s “an order”
■ Record or immediately write down your encounter
● **disclaimer: Audio and video recording
laws differ state by state
■ Report any violations of your rights
○ NEVER:
■ Lie or give false documents
■ Answer questions
■ Give permission to a search without fully reading
a warrant
■ Argue, resist, run, or obstruct– even if your rights are being violated
○ Filming your encounter with police:
■ You may video and audio record police performing official duties in public.
● Officer may NOT:
○ Confiscate, demand to view, or delete without a warrant.
Individual may NOT:
■ Interfere with the officers’ duty [ex. “stand back!” do so]
■ Physically resist– if officer
reaches for your device, do not resist, just report it.
Tricky Police: Police may legally lie, bluff, and intimidate you.
○ Most avoidable arrests occur from trickery and
intimidation:
■ admission of guilt
■ consenting to a search.
○ Refusing a search or to answer incriminating
questions are not:v
■ admissions of guilt
■ reasons to detain you
○ Miranda Rights are read only in “police
custody”
■ visual: handcuffs
○ Common Police tricks:
■ Phrasing:
● “Have you had anything to drink
tonight?”
○ Best response: “Respectfully officer, I don’t have to answer that.”
● “Not answering is suspicious, why
are you resisting?”
○ Best Answer: “I’m not resisting, respectfully, I don’t have to answer anything.”
● “If you have
nothing to hide, you don’t mind if I look around.”
○ Best response: “I’m sorry Officer, but I don’t consent to
searches.”
● “If you refuse a search, I’ll have to call a K-9 unit.”
○ Best response: “Officer, are you detaining me,
or am I free to go?”
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Breath Tests to Determine BAC
○ Do you HAVE to take it? No, you have the right to refuse.
■ Be warned,
refusal is an automatic, irreversible suspension of license (in every state)
○ Blood tests are more accurate, and
require a warrant
○ Breathalyzers are tuned to the “avg” person
■ False positive factors:
● Smaller people
●
Small lung capacity
● Diabetes
● Acid Reflux (GERD)
● Low-Carb Diet
● Inhalers
● Fumes (ex. paint, Ethanol
gas)
● Roadblocks
○ DUI – Legality: protection from “imminent public danger”
■ Same rules as any other traffic
stop
Border Patrol
■ Legal search – Agents may legally search anything without warrant
○ Drugs (It’s a Trap!)
■ The
Supreme Court ruled random checkpoints for finding drugs are unconstitutional.
● “We cannot sanction stops
justified only by the generalized and ever-present possibility that interrogation and inspection may reveal that any
given motorist has committed some crime.”
● “Drug Checkpoint in 1 Mile” [sign] is a police trap, do NOT exit.
○
(visual of the sign near an exit cops/dogs are at exit, not 1 mile down)
○ Pull people over for:
■ Illegal U-Turns
■
Littering
■ Suspiciously exiting
YOU HAVE RIGHTS, Know them.
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