Biden at Morehouse isn't an opportunity. It's a death sentence.

Morehouse and Spelman Colleges' spring commencements are sacred. Although it is 2024, Black people having access to higher education is still a celebratory feat, given the historic and ongoing attempts to push us out of academia. For the class of 2024, commencement is even more important given that the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic disruptions caused our class to lose out on both our high school graduations and freshman year of college. Given this, Morehouse College's decision to invite President Joe Biden to be our keynote speaker was not only an egregious political mistake but an incredible slap in the face to the graduating class of 2024 and Atlanta University Center (AUC) students. 

Recently, members of the Biden administration and its campaign team have been circling the AUC like vultures, frequenting our campuses to gain the social currency associated with aligning themselves with institutions that exemplify Black exceptionalism. Biden is aware that he is at risk of losing our vote because marginalized communities who have historically been loyalists to the Democratic Party refuse to ignore and accept his unwavering support for the zionist entity and inadequate action regarding ending the active genocides in Sudan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Palestine, Haiti and beyond.

While Democrats try to intimidate those who speak out against these atrocities by presenting hypothetical doomsday scenarios about Donald Trump being reelected, students on our campuses, along with peers nationwide, remain committed to standing in solidarity with oppressed people everywhere and reject this liberal gaslighting. It is not the responsibility of Black and brown communities to bear the harm caused by politicians' decisions. We refuse to continue to reap the benefits of these genocides and resist our university's partnership with these powers that view Black and brown people as a justifiable sacrifice for the preservation of "American democracy." 

During the 2019 Democratic primary race, Biden—at risk of losing the Black Vote—responded to Vice President Kamala Harris' questioning of his track record on racial progress by apologizing for his prior alignment with Southern segregationists on the issue of busing early on in his senate tenure. That same year, he also "apologized" to Anita Hill—which she declined—for his role in the landmark 1991 Supreme Court hearing where she bravely testified about the sexual harassment she endured at the hands of now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In light of all of these apologies he issued, Biden mentioned he believes that his previous "missteps" should not tarnish his 50-year-long record of (alleged) fighting against racial injustice. It is 2024, and Biden is still "misstepping" on matters of racial violence and global injustice. Years from now, will he finally consider his role in these genocides yet another one of his missteps?

As students engaged in activism in the AUC and the surrounding West End community, we are compelled to address the recent controversy surrounding Biden's invitation to speak at Morehouse College's 2024 commencement. This decision by Morehouse College's President David A. Thomas is just one example of a larger pattern where administrators at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have prioritized profit, institutional legacy, and esteem over the valid concerns and discontent of students, faculty, and staff. The AUC—which, in addition to Morehouse and Spelman College, also includes Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College—are all institutions with a long history of student activism. 

But despite our history of activism, the students and faculty who do this work are a minority. Past students, faculty, and staff, including Alice Walker, Howard Zinn, Samuel L. Jackson, and W.E.B Du Bois—all of whom are now celebrated globally for their contributions—were punished, ostracized, suspended, or even expelled for their work during their time in the AUC. The universities' more acceptable culture of activism is frequently deployed to condemn any actions that are deemed out of alignment with the legacy of Morehouse's most celebrated alumni, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 's doctrine of non-violence. 

At this year's Spelman College Founders Day convocation, the 2024 Honorary Degree recipient and accomplished alumna, Dr. Ruha Benjamin, openly critiqued the institution's dichotomy of celebrating past student activists while continuing to repress current student activist efforts. Our history of activism spans over a century and includes The Atlanta Student Movement (Feb. 1960), The Lock-In of The Morehouse Board of Trustees (1969), The Lock-In of The Spelman Board of Trustees (1976), The South African Apartheid Divestment Campaign (1986), The Nelly Protest (2004), Students for Justice in Palestine organizing (2014-present), Sexual Assault Protest in the AUC (early 2000s, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2023), Crown Forum Stop Cop City Disruption (2023), our recent Palestine Solidarity demonstration (2024), and many others that remain undocumented. 

President Thomas, along with President Helene Gayle of Spelman College, President George T. French Jr. of Clark Atlanta University, and the AUC institutions' Board of Trustee Members continue to not only ignore and silence student activists but accept blood money and enter into partnerships that further disenfranchise us. Time and time again, they make decisions that bolster their reputations and institutional prestige at the expense of Black middle and working-class students and community members. Our Presidents sit on the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP), which is a group of CEOs that work alongside Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta Police Department to police, surveil, and gentrify the city. It is the organization that seeded the initial funding to the Atlanta Police Foundation for Cop City. Despite this record, ACP operates under the pretense that they are addressing police brutality by investing in police training infrastructure and deadly exchange programs. In reality, Cop City mirrors the original facility, "Little Gaza," used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to commit the ongoing genocide in Gaza. With this as its model, Atlanta's Cop City plans suggest that the facility would only exacerbate state-sanctioned violence against Black and brown people in this city. 

On May 2, Biden addressed the pro-Palestinian protests happening on college campuses across the nation. In this address, he attempted to dilute the power of student organizing despite its proven effectiveness. Biden declared, "People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked," yet failed to recognize that the student-led actions are not attacks on the sanctity of educational institutions but rather, stand in solidarity with the Palestinian and oppressed peoples of the world who have not had the privilege of safety for decades if not centuries. His speech focused on the need for justice to prevail but failed to acknowledge the US politicians currently threatening the International Criminal Court (ICC) with sanctions if they proceed with arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates for their crimes against humanity.

In the same speech, Biden goes on to say, "There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans." This is ironic given that hate speech and violence have only increased against Palestinians since Oct. 7 due to the president's "neutrality." Zionists, whose beliefs are rooted in white supremacy and colonialism, have become increasingly violent. Zionists have been counter-protesting and referring to Pro-Palestine protests as antisemitic, despite these protests being composed of Palestinian, Black, brown, and Jewish students in favor of a permanent ceasefire. This mindset, along with the dangerous weaponization of a militarized police force against unarmed students, has led to college campuses becoming political and physical war zones. 

Our commencement ceremonies are meant to acknowledge the hard work and perseverance of the students—it is our debut into the world as accomplished scholars and young professionals. Graduation is a formative event that will shape the trajectories of the rest of our lives.

For University President David A. Thomas to hijack this momentous occasion is an atrocity. That is why it would be remiss to place the blame for this horrendous event on Biden alone, as he was invited to speak at Morehouse's commencement by Thomas. And Thomas doubled down on this decision in an NPR interview, where he threatened to weaponize the precarious position of the graduating class by canceling commencement "on the spot" if anyone protested this injustice. He even went on to say that he was not above calling the police on students and bragged about having campus police, The Atlanta Police Department, and The Secret Service at his disposal to use against dissenters. 

While Thomas may not understand or care about the position that we as Black and brown students are put in by the ongoing genocide of Palestinians and the encroaching threat of Cop City, we do. While he may be willing to tarnish the legacy of Morehouse and the whole AUC as institutions within the Black radical tradition, we are not. As students and graduates of the AUC, we refuse to allow the narrative that students at HBCUs are complicit in genocide to continue. As our comrades at the Xavier University of Louisiana have shown us, divestment is possible!

Despite the actions of our presidents, trustee members, and administration—who prioritize political posturing over the well-being of our community—we, along with students, faculty, staff, local activists, and community members, recognize the interconnected global struggles faced by the Black and Palestinian communities. Together, we have crafted a list of seven demands aimed at our national and local government, university presidents, members of the Board of Trustees, and administrators: 

1. We demand that President Joseph R. Biden Jr. calls for an IMMEDIATE and PERMANENT ceasefire in Palestine and pressures Israel to end their occupation of Palestine. 
2. We demand our private institutions DISSOLVE their relationship with the Atlanta Police Department and all other organizations funding or supporting The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center and Israel. 
3. We demand the Presidents of our Institutions and Board of Trustees Members RESIGN from all corporations with connections to Israel and The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. If any remain unwilling to meet this demand, we ask that individual to step down from their respective position. 
4. We demand financial transparency from institution leaders, which includes but is not limited to investments, donations, and school partnerships. 
5. We demand our Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) adopt a ZERO-TOLERANCE policy for funding and complicit disposition in current or future genocides and injustice given the radical nature of our founding.
6. We demand that all anti-protest legislation be ABOLISHED from the student handbooks at all AUC institutions and that our presidents condemn the brutalization of university and student activists. 

Although the semester has ended, our demands remain the same. Our demands must be met because we need to hold decision-makers accountable and to a higher standard of ethical leadership. It is essential not only for the integrity of the AUC but also for advancing justice and empowerment within the Black community, both locally and globally. 

CALL TO ACTION: Join the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members who are campaigning for our institutions to divest from Cop City and speak out against the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Help spread the impactful efforts of AUC Students for Justice in Palestine, whose work spans over a decade!