Dear Joe,

I’m writing in response to the article posted in the Jan. 26 edition of the Chronicle titled “Shuttle boycott honorable, but misguided.” Just to begin, I will say that article was disrespectful.

Being an African American, knowing members of my family tree who died so that I could be a student at Quinnipiac, so that I can freely sit on a Quinnipiac shuttle wherever I like; it hurts me to the core to hear you publish such ignorant things. “The shuttle boycott may educate, but also devalues the concept of boycotting.” The concept of the Montgomery boycott was not merely an act of not hopping on the city bus. It was a statement, a movement, and a fight; so when you publish things that say BSU is minimalizing that commitment you are the one devaluing the fight that my family endured. Yes, opinions will always be made, but how dare you publicly disrespect the honor I’m giving my family because you don’t understand it. But because you don’t understand the sole purpose of [Wednesday’s] boycott, let me take a step back and do as Martin Luther King Jr. would have done, and try to explain it to you: Our Quinnipiac shuttle boycott was to pay tribute to what our country went through, not only in the 1955 boycott, but in the Civil Rights Era as a whole.

Wednesday’s celebration should be a personal praise from everyone, no matter your race; this isn’t about color anymore this is about exaltation. If a person never takes the time to try and feel what our country’s brave men and women felt during that fight, they will never humble themselves to it. Did you try to boycott the shuttle today, or pick up a button in support of it? Did you read the facts about the boycott that we were giving out to educate and remind everyone about the struggle? Did you even take a moment to look outside today, at all the snow, slippery roads, blocked sidewalks; and think to yourself, my family walked in this for miles and miles, day after day, for a whole year to get to where they had to go-where they had to go that day, and where they had to take us today. Did you think that today? I did, and it brought tears to my heart that they did that just for me, and all that BSU was asking of us was to do it for them; just one day to remember them. It is not flattery, it is honor; and MLK and Rosa Parks were indeed smiling down on us today for remembering them in just one simple way that we could. So when you try to make a mockery of our celebration today, you made a mockery of the ones we are celebrating.

Quanita Jones

P.S. Was the Quinnipiac Bus Boycott necessary?… Is it necessary for us to remember our veterans? Is it necessary to remember our 9/11 heroes? Is it necessary to remember our lost love ones? If you dare to say no, your heart is indeed misguided.