By Brian Ray

While rain-drenched scarves commemorated 400,000 dead in Darfur at the Interfaith Center quad last week, dozens of posters informed students of inequality in the U.S., and uniformly declared, “That Ain’t Right.”

The effort was part of the Muhammad Ali Institute’s Peace and Justice week, which ended Friday. The high point of the week was Wednesday’s rally, called “That Ain’t Right: Rally for Justice.”

The event, originally planned for the humanities quad, was forced into the Chao Auditorium in the Ekstrom library. Despite the location, students and faculty filled the auditorium to the brim.

Jason Walker, a junior political science major and president of the NAACP at the University of Louisville, said, “This event brings together all types of people to talk about peace and justice, as well as many other pertinent issues.”

Presentations were made by Muhammad Ali Scholars, including the program’s first “street scholar,” Sayheed Asante, who detailed his plan that will bring farmers’ markets to the west end of Louisville to combat the lack of food variety in that area.

Dr. Ricky Jones, chair of the pan-African studies department, spoke about his background from the projects of Atlanta to Morehouse College, one of the most prestigious historically black colleges in the nation. In his speech, Jones said that he was to the left of both conservatives and liberals, referring to himself as a “radical.”

“I am a revolutionary,” Jones said. “If you are black in America and not a revolutionary, you’re crazy.”

He also told the audience that nothing changes unless public policy changes, catching some off guard when he said, “Barak Obama may be closer to the antichrist” than to the savior of the black community.

Mary Mudd, program assistant for the U of L debate team said, “We all as citizens have to enact change for each and every citizen. Its every person’s personal responsibility.”

The most spirited speaker of the night was Alvin Herring, director of the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice. At the climax of the rally, Herring encouraged the audience to get out of their seats in a rousing chant of “That ain’t right!”

He told the crowd, “There is never peace without justice and never justice without peace.” He continued, “It won’t change until we the people have said we’ve had enough.”

“The way the government oppresses the people, that ain’t right!” Herring said.