Students take back the night

The music is what attracted the students to come, but it was the
words that made them stay.

As the sun went down over DeNeve Plaza Thursday night, the UCLA
Clothesline Project held its annual Take Back the Night event,
which was the culmination of a week filled with t-shirts,
statistics and a unified struggle against all gender-based violence
and hate crimes.

Take Back the Night, traditionally held as a way for survivors
of gender-based violence or hate crimes and their allies to gather
together to speak out with music, poetry, a candlelight vigil and a
mass march into Westwood and back.

“We want the people who come to Take Back the Night to be
moved to take action, break the silence and stereotypes” said
Alexis Flyer, a third-year political science student and co-chair
of the event. Flyer said the greatest misconception of Take Back
the Night is that it is only about women.

“A lot of times sexual violence focuses on women but it
affects everyone. This kind of violence happens all the
time,” Flyer said.

The spotlighted artistic performances reflected this sense of
diversity and variety as they included men and women of different
sexual preferences and sexuality.

Kristy Kruger, a USC graduate and a musical performer at Take
Back the Night events in Los Angeles for 10 years, said that the
event’s goal is “creating a community with people of
similar beliefs, and an empowering stance against sexual
violence.”

As Kruger strummed her guitar and the sun faded into the night,
the crowd grew in the plaza. Jorge Ochra, a first-year Art student,
stopped with some friends and said he would have stayed if he had
known it was scheduled, “I would’ve come if I’d
known. I think it’s good. It might affect survivors;
it’s to say “˜We’re here.'”

The contrast between the silent protest of the Clothesline
Project t-shirts hanging in Schoenberg Quad during the week and the
more vocal setting of Thursday night’s event was entirely
planned, said Natalie Newton, a fourth-year women’s studies
student and co-chair of the event.

“The shirts are more personal, created and read on an
individual level, while Take Back the Night is more social, meant
to be collective because the community empowers.” Newton
said.

Award-winning poet Ta’Shia Asanti spoke about the hope to
end all violence, especially sexually motivated violence.

“Go to the core, go to where the violence began,”
Asanti said between readings of her poetry.

Many of the students who have attended Take Back the Night in
previous years said that the group march is always their favorite
portion of the night. “The march after testimonials is very
empowering. It is a time to reclaim your own night,” said
Christine Petit, a UC Riverside sociology graduate student.