The One About Payton Head | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

The One About Payton Head

A kind and inspiring person

11
The One About Payton Head
The ManEater

Payton Head gave a speech at SUNY Cortland late October. He is a recent graduate from the University of Missouri. He studied many things at his time there including journalism, political science and balk studies. He was student body president and represented about 28,000 students. Payton talked about improving race relationship on campuses and working to create institutional change.

To say the speech by Payton Head was inspiring would be an understatement. I was fully invested during his presentation and was sad when it was over. His speech was called “Lessons From Mizzou,” and was all about racism that he has experienced and what his actions have done and what has been impacted. Payton Head went to The University Of Missouri, where he was involved in the journalism program. He grew up in downtown Chicago where the majority of the town is black, so coming to Mizzou was different because the school is 77% white. He left his mark at the school and really got involved. He was homecoming king, president of the student government and was involve in a lot clubs. He strived to be the best at everything. But not all of his experiences were positive.

Payton experienced racism many times while on campus and outside. He was called many racial and sexual slurs while walking down the road holding his boyfriends hand. After being harassed one time, he took his anger out on the internet. He ranted on Facebook, and was extremely surprised when he woke up the thousands of shares and comments and calls from NY Times. He found out that unfortunately, he was not alone involving this problem. The school erupted with this and protests started to break out. The school was tense and everyone was waiting for the president of the school to respond to the events, but he wouldn’t. This caused stressful times at his college and it only become more stressful when a tragic event happened, the Ferguson shooting. In Missouri, a black man, who was unarmed, was shot by a white police officer twelve times. This started a huge movement called “Black Lives Matter.”

The town of Missouri was taken over by protests during this time, as well as Mizzou college. Students skipped class to protest on campus and Payton seemed to be in charge of it all. News reporters flooded Ferguson and Mizzou to get footage of this life changing time. A student that was friends with Payton went on a six-day hunger strike because the president of the school was not putting a statement out about recent events. Payton had a meeting with Tim, the president and he had to power to help that person, but he did nothing. Everyone wanted him to resign. Tim even put the sprinklers on during one of the protests. At another protest, they held the student on a hunger strike up so he could be involved, he was extremely weak. Payton Head’s speech was very empowering to listen to. He wants everyone who is different race or gender just to be equal.

Payton’s speech was so empowering and really got me thinking. His speech made me want to be involved on my campus and educate myself more on social issues. He was very passionate in the way he spoke and his experiences made the audience sad and empowered at the same time. His humorous comments made the speech more enjoyable and not too serious, although the topic was extremely serious. I learned a lot from Payton and it is a speech that I will remember for a long time.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Relationships

10 Facts All People In A Large Family Can Confirm During The Holiday Season

The holiday season can be the best and most stressful time of the year, especially when more people are involved.

1106
kids jumping

The holidays are full of lights, sweets, sweaters, and your favorite movies. There's nothing quite like this period from the beginning of December through January. Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years. The fun of it all.

I don't know about you but with my large Italian family something is always going on during this season. It can be the most wonderful time of the year while also being the most hectic. These are a few things you know if your family is anything like mine during this time.

Keep Reading...Show less
10 things that happen the second Thanksgiving is over
reference.com

To those who celebrate, you just spent an entire day cooking an elaborate meal with all of your favorite foods. You probably ate your body weight in pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes. What happens now? Oh yea, Christmas. It’s time to take out all of the decorations and Christmas themed things that have been sitting in the attic since last year; it’s time to make a reappearance. So, here are 10 things that happen the second Thanksgiving is over.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

18 Things I Want To Do Now That I'm 18

I'm technically an adult, so I'm legally required to live a little, right?

4383
Happy Birthday Cake

For the entirety of my high school career, I was always seen as the goody-two-shoes. I never got in trouble with a teacher, I kept stellar grades, and when I wasn't doing extracurricular activities, I was at home studying. Even when I did go out, it was usually with a bunch of fellow band geeks. The night would end before 11:00 PM and the only controversial activity would be a fight based on who unfairly won a round of Apples-to-Apples when someone else clearly had a better card (I promise I'm not still holding a grudge).

Now that I'm officially an adult, I want to pursue some new things. I want to experience life in a way that I never allowed myself to do prior to entering college. These are the years that I'm supposed to embark on a journey of self-discovery, so what better way to do that than to create a bucket list?

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

10 Life Lessons from Christmas Classics

The holiday classics that shaped my life

2692
10 Life Lessons from Christmas Classics
Flickr

The holiday season is full of stress, debt, and forced conversation. While we rush through the month of December, it's important to take a step back and enjoy the moments before they're gone. Most families love to watch Christmas movies, but these beloved films provide more than entertainment. Here are 10 life lessons that I've learned from the holiday classics we watch every year.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

15 Mind-Bending Riddles

Hopefully they will make you laugh.

202074
 Ilistrated image of the planet and images of questions
StableDiffusion

I've been super busy lately with school work, studying, etc. Besides the fact that I do nothing but AP chemistry and AP economics, I constantly think of stupid questions that are almost impossible to answer. So, maybe you could answer them for me, and if not then we can both wonder what the answers to these 15 questions could be.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments