By: Liv Armstead
Fort Monroe in Hampton hosted a peace rally in honor of Nolan Wells on Sunday, October 18. The event was largely attended by students from both Hampton University and Old Dominion University.
Japhari Jones, president of Black Lives Matter 757, spearheaded the peace rally, and social justice organizations at Hampton University, including Black Youth Empowerment Network (BYEN HU) and Defenders at HU, promoted the event.
Gabrielle Baker, a journalism major at Hampton University, reached out to Jones to organize the rally and ensure that students in the Hampton Roads community were being heard.
“It’s disheartening to see our generation still facing the same racism and violence that our people fought against decades ago,” said Baker. “As students at such a historic HBCU, I felt it was important for us to come together and stand up for a young Black man who could have just as easily been one of our classmates.”
The peace rally comes just three months after Nolan Wells’ body was found in the water off the shoreline of Horn Island in Mississippi days after his disappearance on July 4th. Wells was on a boating excursion with his friends during Independence Day when he didn’t return to shore with the rest of the group on the boat, per CNN.
The public grew suspicious after social media chat messages and a frantic 911 call made from the boat became public. They noted that Wells was the only Black person out of his friend group on the boat, highlighting Mississippi’s tense racial history, per CNN and WBRC 6 News.
Quintarion Hays, a cybersecurity major attending Hampton from the state of Mississippi, details how important it was for him to be a part of the rally advocating for justice for Wells and the emotions that arose while marching.
“Being involved with the rally was really important to me because I, as a Black male in society, [recognize that] this could’ve easily been me and I would want somebody to advocate for me in my absence,” said Hays. “I felt empowered as I marched with everyone. I got emotional for a moment as someone from Mississippi [seeing how] this case and the Emmett Till case hit close to home since they were both cases of young Black men losing their lives to nonsense.”
Authorities have yet to make any arrests or name any suspects in connection with Wells’ death, per ABC7 Bay Area.
