A third-year law student at the University of California Irvine School of Law is helping out his hometown while working towards his JD more than 1,900 miles away. Jamison Whiting is from Minneapolis and after the killing of George Floyd and the unrest that haunted his hometown, he wanted to help.
“As I witnessed the worst of my city, I also witnessed the best my city has to offer,” Whiting said. “Businesses were destroyed in minority neighborhoods of Minneapolis, but all Minnesotans stepped up and answered the call to help – and I knew I had to do the same.”
Whiting grew up three blocks from where Floyd was killed on Memorial Day. Following Floyd’s death, the city streets were filled with protestors — some peaceful and others who turned to rioting and looting. Whiting said he participated in many of the peaceful protests.
“My city was experiencing a lot of pain. The anger, sadness, grief — the array of emotions that were on display — needed to be acknowledged as okay,” Whiting said. “Minneapolis was trying to heal from yet another murder of an unarmed Black man. As the community tried to process these emotions, some marched, some protested, some rioted, some cried, yelled, donated, and all of these were okay. We may not agree with the emotional outlet everyone displays, but we must understand that each process is valid.”
Whiting began collecting donations to help with clean-up efforts and to purchase food and other supplies for those in need as many resources had been burned or lost. Whiting and his partner Kelly Law raised more than $14,000 to help out small businesses and organizations that were burned, looted or damaged.
“Every single dollar we raised went directly into the hands of those in need and those helping to rebuild our city,” said Whiting.
