#BBUM University of Michigan Students of Color Demand Change

America, the land of the free. America represents a melting pot of different people and cultures. America is the land of opportunities where even the poorest man can get a good paying job if he just works hard enough and everyone is treated equally. This is the biggest lie that I have heard my entire life. Yes America may be home to many different people and cultures but it is far from this post racial, place of equality that many people describe. Racism occurs at home, at work and on our college campuses.

At the University of Michigan students decided that they had enough. Out came #BBUM which stands for Being Black at the University of Michigan. This hashtag was sparked by the University of Michigan's student group The Black Student Union. Students would tweet about their experiences with being black at University of Michigan. This attracted attention from administration, other students, and the media.

Now in January on Martin Luther King Jr. Day students have released a list of demands for the University of Michigan to deliver on. 

"Our demands are as follows:
1. We demand the University give us an equal opportunity to implement change, the type of change that can only be completed with a full restoration of The Black Student Union’s purchasing power through an increased budget.

2. We demand the University give us available housing on central campus for those of lower socio-economic status at a rate in which students can afford to be a part of university life, and not just on the periphery.

3. We demand for an opportunity to congregate and share our experiences in a new Trotter Multicultural Center located on central campus.

4. We demand an opportunity to educate and be educated about America’s historical treatment and marginalization of groups of color through race/ethnicity requirements throughout all schools and colleges within the university.

5. We demand for an equal opportunity to succeed with emergency scholarships for black students in need of financial support to eliminate the mental anxiety of not being able to focus on and afford the university’s academic life.

6. We demand for increased disclosure of all documents within the Bentley Library. There should be transparency about the University and its past dealing with race relations.

Lastly and most importantly,

7. We demand an increase in black representation on this campus equal to 10%."

Now students wait to see what administration does. The administration has 7 days to deliver or students will be forced to take more actions.The fight's not over til its over.