Utah Valley University student group calls vigil in Provo example of 'performative allyship'

OREM — Friday night’s peaceful gathering in downtown Provo was not a protest.

It was a commemoration and veneration of lives lost to police brutality, according to Israel “Izzy” Herring, who helped organize the event with Unified Allies for Change. It was also a call for action and unification, not only from people of color in Utah County but from police officers and elected officials to further police reform.

“All we’re trying to do is connect the community,” Herring said. “We’re trying to unite, come together, and host a peaceful candlelight vigil for victims of police brutality all over the world.”

But according to one group that attended the rally, it was not enough.

The black student union at Utah Valley University is an umbrella organization for social and educational support of the Africana community, according to the group’s website. They strive to “unite our leaders by cultivating cultural awareness,” and host programs of personal and professional development in the black community.

Members of the group’s leadership attended the vigil for George Floyd held on the steps of the Provo City Police Department, standing alongside Utah Valley University President Astrid S. Tuminez and several members of the university’s academic, marketing and communications staff in addition to nearly 1,000 others in downtown Provo.

That meeting was a show of “performative allyship,” according to a recent post by the group on Instagram. The term, which has been growing in usage as protests have spread across the country following the death of Floyd, Louisville’s Breonna Taylor, Salt Lake City’s Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal, and others, refers to surface-level activism, often referred to as “slacktivism” or “performative wokeness.”

Performative allyship is often identified as activism for optics, band wagoning, or public relations or brand management, while being centered on one’s self or organization instead of the cause promoted. Authentic allyship, according to activist and London-based psychotherapist Seerut Chawla, is born out of empathy, grief or outrage; often requires the ally to sit with discomfort; and is committed to a cause instead of one’s self, brand or image.

And the UVU black student union says community and university leaders “showed their true colors” at Friday night’s event.

“In an event intended to honor the lost lives of black victims of police brutality, it was hijacked and used to appease these same leaders that benefit off a system of injustice,” the post reads, while citing statistics about UVU’s police academy certification and police killings over the past seven years.

“Change will not come until there is transparency, until there is accountability. And last night, there was none of that.

“These are our leaders. These are our programs. These are our problems. Get active and help us fix them, we can no longer do it alone. You have now seen with your eyes what we’ve been experiencing for years. We will keep sharing. Keep advocating. And we will no longer be silent.”

Leadership in the UVU black student union told KSL.com that Unified Allies for Change had the intent to celebrate and mourn for the lives lost to police brutality, but the leaders in the Provo city and police department community “chose not to do that.”

“In that moment when it details from the 'them' and turns into someone centering themselves, amongst other things, that’s performative,” the group said via Instagram.

KSL.com has also reached out to Provo City for a response. Utah Valley University released a statement Tuesday morning, pointing to the university's policies and procedures for inclusion.

"At UVU, we strive to provide an environment of respect and civility, where every individual is seen, valued, and able to thrive," university spokesperson Scott Trotter said. "We stand side-by-side with our Black Student Union in working to shape a campus climate where each individual can learn and work without feeling alienated by racial prejudice, bias and stereotypes. Inclusion is part of who we are. We truly believe there is a place for you (and everyone) at UVU."

Organizers of the event repeatedly said the vigil was not a protest, but a memorial and veneration of those who have died at the hands of police brutality. Specifically, Unified Allies for Change did not want those in attendance to take a knee, as many have done at protests around the country, including as close as Salt Lake City, because of the specific way that George Floyd died while under the watch of Minneapolis police officers.

“Given the specific climate of how George Floyd died, we are asking people not to take a knee tonight,” Herring said Friday night. “We know it’s happening everywhere else, and we know what that means, but we aren’t asking the police officers to take a knee because a police officer did take a knee on George Floyd’s neck.”

Floyd died May 25 while being handcuffed as former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin placed a knee on the back of his neck. The former Minneapolis officer is currently being held on $1 million bail with charges that include second-degree murder. Three other officers from the department have been charged with aiding and abetting the crime.

Friday’s vigil was a call for change and unity between the community and police officers. Among the crowd that numbered close to 1,000 people were police chiefs from every jurisdiction in Utah County, including Provo Police Chief Rich Ferguson, who addressed the crowd.

“We’re here tonight because, collectively, we understand how important it is that we listen and that we learn from each other,” Ferguson said. “It’s more important now than ever.”

The Provo chief of police added: “There’s nothing that makes good cops madder than bad cops.

“George Floyd’s life mattered to us. It mattered.”

Noted Utah recording artist Alex Boye also spoke at the event, sharing his thoughts on being a black man in Utah. He also held an impromptu musical show he said was a celebration of Floyd, Taylor and the lives lost in the black community by police violence.

In addition to Ferguson’s remarks, Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi and the founding members of Unified Allies for Change all addressed the crowd, taking the mic to speak from the back of a pickup truck parked near the exit of the Provo police station on 300 West.

UVU president Tuminez did not address the crowd but posed for photos with the Unified Allies and spoke informally with several people at the rally. She also shared a “message of diversity and inclusion” last week that addressed the subject.

“We are united in our continued commitment to address the deeply damaging effects of racism,” wrote Tuminez in a letter also signed by six university vice presidents, the chief of staff, and the school’s chief inclusion and diversity officer. “Together, we can elevate all individuals by supporting their educational, professional, and personal aspirations without feeling alienated by prejudice, bias, and stereotypes. As we build a more inclusive UVU and make progress on the next phase of our strategic Inclusion & Diversity Action Plan, we know we can foster conditions that will allow all of us to learn, labor, and serve together. Specifically, when we emphasize that “UVU is a place for you,” we welcome all people and reaffirm one of our fundamental values — exceptional care.

“We invite everyone to work more deliberately to strengthen exceptional care at UVU. We encourage everyone to eliminate any racism that might manifest in our professional conduct and interactions, educational programs, and teaching and scholarship.”

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Provo vigil for George Floyd calls for unity to fight social injustice

“All we’re trying to do is connect the community,” Herring said. “This is not a protest. We are honoring and venerating the people who have died to police brutality.” (Photo: Scott G Winterton, KSL)

Another co-founder of Unified Allies for Change, Sebastian Stewart-Johnson, noted that there were more people at the vigil that he didn’t know than those he did. That was heartening to his message, he said in addressing the throng, because it signaled a willingness for community leaders and members to listen to the black community — a baseline level of needed change in society.

“We are here to create that community of acceptance, of love, of understanding, so that Provo will become and can become a beacon of light, an exemplar community to every community that surrounds it,” Stewart-Johnson said, who noted the differences in complexion, gender and age amongst the crowd.

He called those differences “beautiful,” adding that it is those differences that will make the current movement for change strong.

“When we can recognize the difference and still love and accept it, we will find a community that is truly unified,” Stewart-Johnson said. “We want to recognize those differences and love them. Love them, by giving them places to speak. Love them, by helping them feel accepted and not judged. Love them, by supporting them like all of you all are doing today.

“We all have a chance to make a change as a unified ally for change.”

Stewart-Johnson noted the tired feelings and plights of several in the black community, who have endured racism in America for years. He, too, is tired.

He’s not the only one, Stewart-Johnson added.

“I’m truly am tired of hashtags,” he said. “I’m tired of seeing murders on a day-to-day basis. I’m tired of seeing our brothers and sisters being killed. Y’all, I’m tired. And we should all be tired. We should be so tired of injustice. We should be so tired of hatred.

“We should be so tired that we are all moved to make a change.”

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