Student leaders remain gathered at Howard University’s Blackburn Center demanding changes to “unlivable” housing conditions. Unlivable conditions span the gamut of mold, roaches, rats, and other strains on living. As students at Howard continue to protest the conditions of housing, numerous amounts of their stories have reached virality within the almost four-week span. Student leaders have organized a staged sit-in at Howard University’s Blackburn Center in hopes that demands are met. Many other protesters have been affected by the poor housing conditions as well.

Destiney Cantzlaar, a Senior Political Science major, is a student at Howard University. Affected by the housing crisis, she has found ways to protest while remaining an active student on the campus. “Like many, I wasn’t given housing at all. About a month before school started, they released an emergency housing form, but by then many upperclassmen like myself were tied into expensive leases because Howard stressed that classes would be in person” she said.

There are students that do not have access to affordable housing on the campus. “Sophomore year not only did they not give me housing, but I wasn’t aware of it until a week before school. So I was constantly traveling between Maryland and DC daily to sit in the Res-Life office to make sure they found a place for me to live" she continued.

Cantzlaar, like many students, has used social media to spread awareness about the current housing conditions. The hashtag #BlackburnTakeover was created to help spread the word. The hashtag contains resources to help students, photos of the housing conditions, and additional forms of awareness. Students at Howard have also created a list of demands via “The Live Movement,” an Instagram page created by Student Aniyah Vines.

The ongoing demonstrations have caused tensions between the student body and the administration at Howard.

“The tension between the administration and students is hard to explain. The administration has become a bit passive-aggressive, performative, and dismissive when it comes to addressing the issues that the live movement are trying to highlight in their demands” says Cantzlaar.

As the fourth week of protests passes, students have remained in unison until demands are being received and met by the administration. Cantzlaar shares what she's witnessed at the rallies, which have consisted of both chanting and lighter moments of entertaining one another.

She reveals, “I think the biggest thing that you see is passion and community. Even though it’s a protest every time you step on the yard, you’ll either hear loud music, and people dancing and singing together, or see people donating in droves.”

Reaching over 10,000 followers on social media, “The Live Movement” has been the most up-to-date platform to stay informed on the latest news regarding the housing crisis.

“The best way to help is to donate and raise awareness," says Cantzlaar. "The reason this was able to become the longest protest on Howard's campus is because of the community support from both within the Howard student body and the greater DMV area.”

Cantzlaar added, “In order for things to change there needs to be more pressure on the administration on a national level. Protests happen on campus too frequently yet things keep getting pushed under the rug, our voices need to be heard and things need to be changed now.”

As protests roll over to their fifth week, students' demands have yet to be met by the administration. Students at Howard have chosen to continue these protests until their requests are satisfied.

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Madison Murray is a Senior Multimedia Journalism Student at North Carolina A&T State University. In love with the field of journalism, she is also a podcaster, media host, writer, and Editor In Chief covering entertainment and sports. Follow her latest works here on Instagram, and Linkedin.

Madison Murray

Writing since November 2021 · 1 story contributed