2018 Solidarity Ball
The West Virginia University Center for Black Culture and research recently put on the first ever Solidarity Ball, just a week ago. This new event is set to be put on annually by the department, and host a variety of guests for years to come. The ball is supposed to symbolize The Innocents project. An organization that works around the clock to help fix wrongful convictions of people of color in West Virginia and Ohio.
One of the guest speakers at the event was a man by the name of Rickey Jackson, who spent nearly four decades in a Cleveland Ohio prison for a crime he did not commit. The semi-formal event was also a fund raiser for The Innocents Project, and to raise awareness about the projects primary goals. The Innocents project runs entirely on free donations, and is one of many similar organizations throughout The United States.
The Center for Black Culture and Research plans on having more events like this in the future, in order to continue to raise awareness about this program and programs like it. But most of all, to raise the question of how racism is still a factor in our legal system. Also how people of color are still being discriminated against. Two very important issues that need to be brought up, in order to continue moving forward in this quest for equality for all.