DeKALB — Students gathered Tuesday for the beginning of the second Black Lives Matter week at NIU, organized by the Black Student Union’s civil disobedience committee.

The first Black Lives Matter week happened last semester during the week of Oct. 11. The BSU drew in chalk on sidewalks around campus and organized peaceful protests in order to raise awareness of police brutality.

This semester’s event had a similar message and used previous techniques of peaceful protest and chalking. In addition to addressing police brutality, demonstrators addressed other issues of racism on campus and in general.

Freshman psychology major Alyson Godbolt became a part of the Black Lives Matter movement at NIU last semester during the first Black Lives Matter week. She said when they organize these demonstrations, they discuss issues they notice on campus and all over the country in order to decide how they want to protest.

“We find demonstrations that will raise awareness, that will start conversation on race equality and the mistreatment of black people in America,” Godbolt said.

Friday, the BSU put an announcement on Twitter from the civil disobedience committee that the second Black Lives Matter week would happen Tuesday through Thursday.

Participants met Tuesday morning in Neptune Central to organize before they walked outside to begin the demonstration.

Signs were passed out for demonstrators to wear around their necks, which had statements such as, “Give me justice or give me nothing,” “No more racism” and “No justice, no peace” written across them.

At noon, demonstrators walked outside to the brick circle on the ground near the east side of the Founder’s Memorial Library. The students stood in a circle in this area to participate in the demonstration, which included chanting, singing and demonstrators speaking.

Darius Parker, senior journalism major and director of civil disobedience for the BSU, read off 30 names of individuals who have died at the hands of police. Names on the list included Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald and Philando Castile.

While Parker read the names, he asked demonstrators to raise their fists in the air and observe a moment of silence in memory of those who have died.

At the conclusion of the protest, Parker asked people to join him in taking a vow of silence for the rest of the day in remembrance of those who lost their lives. Demonstrators who wished to participate in this vow received a piece of tape to wear over their mouths.

Other passers-by stopped to observe the demonstration.

Freshman psychology major Rasean Mitchell was with freshman marketing major Kyle Reynolds at a de-stressing event at Cole Hall when he heard the group chanting, so the two walked over to observe.

Mitchell hadn’t seen the Black Lives Matter demonstrations last semester except for the chalking around campus. He said he supports the movement and thinks it’s good for people to fight for what they believe in.

“I’m not really a big fan of the, you know, the chanting and shouting and stuff, but I think it’s right to bring attention to everybody else about what’s going on,” Mitchell said.

Reynolds said he felt the demonstration and the Black Lives Matter movement shouldn’t only acknowledge one race.

“I don’t not support it, but I understand it.” Reynolds said. “And I believe that, in my opinion, all lives matter, and we shouldn’t be sticking [to or] singling [out] one race. I mean, it’s a good thing that they all come together, but ‘Should you single out one race?’ is the question we should be asking.”

Passers-by had various reactions to the demonstration. Some of those who passed by expressed their dislike of the demonstration. One instance happened while the group was still in Neptune Central.

“We literally just had an incident inside of Neptune Central,” Parker said to the crowd once outside. “This is probably the most non-violent demonstration we’ve ever done, and the fact that he was upset that we are united as people of color and black students is a problem. Especially on this campus.”

When another passer-by lashed out, Parker calmed the crowd’s reaction and reminded them to “be mindful of what you give your energy to.”

Godbolt said that this hate is nothing new. When people express hate, the group tries to keep in mind that it comes from a place of misunderstanding, but it’s still hurtful.

She said to help this lack of understanding, people should ask questions so they can learn about the movement.

“If you don’t understand us, if you don’t understand why we’re so angry, if you have questions, if you’re not understanding anything, come talk to one of us. Come to one of our demonstrations and come to us respectfully, please,” Godbolt said. “If you have a question about something, just ask, ‘Hey, I’m not quite understanding why this is this … I don’t want to upset you — I just want to understand. I want to better understand.’ And if you don’t want to understand, just don’t talk.”