After decisions made not to indict the law enforcement officials involved in the suffocation of Eric Garner and the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, the activist group “Students 4 Ferguson” will hold a rally at the Martin Luther King Library of San Jose State University this Sunday.

The activist group, headed by five high school and college students including Shannon Hong (11), formed after last week’s decision not to indict former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting of Brown.

“I’m the one that really got it started,” Shannon said. “We’ve organized nationwide synchronized rallies. Right now, we have Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, and San Jose. We’re all participating in a gathering for humanity. It’s in city libraries or city halls. A whole bunch of students will gather to talk about what’s going on in Ferguson and how they can help.”

Another wave of protests began yesterday when a New York grand jury decided not to indict the officer whose videotaped chokehold of Eric Garner, age 43, led to his eventual death on July 17. The events in Ferguson and New York have contributed to the popularity of hashtags like “#BlackLivesMatter,” a slogan spread around social media websites and used during protests to express discontent with law enforcement’s treatment of ethnic minorities during encounters.

Shannon listed three charities that Students 4 Ferguson plans to support through asking for donations during the rally on Sunday, namely Help or Hush, the food banks in Ferguson, and the bail fund for protesters currently being detained.

“We’re also getting involved with Cards for Ferguson, where we have a giant card and people can sign it and send it to people who are in jail right now, as well as a whiteboard where [rally attendees] can say what Ferguson means to them,” she said. “I think that’s something that will resonate with them.”

Also conducted at the rally will be spoken word poetry and a peaceful walk from the Martin Luther King Library to City Hall. According to Shannon, most of the events across locations are similar.

Karina Chan, a Palo Alto High School junior and member of executive organizing staff for Students 4 Ferguson, mentioned her hopes for the rally.

“I’m hoping to raise awareness for the fact that by not having a trial and leaving the situation so ambiguous, our justice system isn’t doing its job,” she said. “I’m also looking forward to hearing from passionate student speakers and artists in a peaceful demonstration of their first amendment rights to speech and assembly. It’s important to set the precedent for an effective, non-violent demonstration.”

Since the demonstrations began after the grand jury decision for Brown’s case last week, renewed criticisms of the protests have circulated, alleging the destructive nature of the protesters’ actions. Shannon maintains that her movement is intended to be peaceful.

“We’re having an enormous focus on being peaceful, completely peaceful, relatively silent, even,” she said. “We don’t want to create a lot of noise, and that would be the main thing that we want to focus on. I know some people are calling for disruptive rallies, but I think that’s not effective for students. Students really need to be educated that activism is possible without violence.”

A junior at Prospect high school and president of the San Jose NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) youth council, Helen Kassa discussed how “excited” she was at the chance for raising awareness of racial issues among students.

“I’m looking forward to seeing students coming together,” she said. “Students from different backgrounds coming together with the common goal of fighting for justice and equality. I’m excited to see youth seeing this as a human rights issue rather than a ‘black issue.’ It’s beautiful. For a long time, people saw civil rights as irrelevant and out of date.”

Looking ahead, Shannon says that she hopes to hold more rallies like the one on Sunday in January or February.