Meet Kylie Rowland, author of “Death is Violent: Not-Violent Sit-Ins and Embodiments of Victimhood in Anti-Police Protest Rhetorics”

Kylie Rowland earned her bachelor’s in English, writing, and rhetoric from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2024 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her article “Death is Violent: Not-Violent Sit-Ins and Embodiments of Victimhood in Anti-Police Protest Rhetorics” examines the imagery related to the protests against “Cop City” in Georgia, as well as the line between reasonable and unreasonable in terms of protesting. The author strives to define what the idea of violence is, examines how images of the protest circulated, and produces meaning.

While reading news articles covering the “Stop Cop City” protests that began in 2023, Rowland was struck by how the media contrasted the image of “violent” protestors against the state, which was consistently portrayed as “nonviolent” despite its plans to destroy the Atlanta forest and the regular instances of documented police brutality against citizens that occurred during the protests. In Rowland’s words, it has become increasingly necessary “to deconstruct the definition of violence in relation to public protests,” especially in the wake of the 2020 anti-police protests, which brought the issue to the forefront of America’s attention. 

 

Rowland began her research as part of an undergraduate course on rhetorical analysis. In the early stages, she was quickly fascinated by the methods that protestors used to frame themselves as nonviolent and contrast themselves with the violence that would inevitably occur as a result of the construction of Cop City. As she pursued her research interest, Rowland began to piece together how the Cop City protests demonstrated an intersection between the issues of decolonization, environmental justice, anti-racism, and anti-capitalism. 

Rowland described writing this article as an easy transition from coursework to writing in the beginning. She went through the steps to ensure that this article was something that she would be proud to have published and that the facts were solid. When the class she wrote this piece for ended, Rowland had some time away to gather new ideas and come back to her piece. 

One of the biggest challenges Rowland described was coming back to the article repeatedly while editing it, since it was an ongoing process. She also stated it was initially a challenge to be receptive to all the feedback she was receiving and allow it to impact the final article. She expressed some disappointment when editors said she should cut out pieces of the article that the author believed to be beneficial, though she understood that not everything was YSW-ready at the time of editing. 

While the ever-changing nature of the events surrounding Rowland’s research posed a challenge, she was fortunately supported through her process by her faculty advisory editor (FAE), Dr. Mendenhall. While supporting Rowland through her research and writing process, Dr. Mendenhall continually offered helpful revisions. Still, most importantly, she always ensured that Rowland knew the work was her own and that any final editorial decisions were up to her. Overall, Mendenhall was supportive from the beginning of the process to the end of reworking the piece for publishing. 

Rowland notes that a great benefit of working with Young Scholars in Writing is that the program provides aspiring writers with a healthy challenge to test their skills against, while also providing full support in their endeavors as writers. It gives them an environment that is free of the stress and anxiety around the feeling of having to know the ins and outs of academic publishing, thanks in great part to the multiple YSW editors that work with their writers and the consideration that YSW has for the well-being of the undergraduates who submit their work to them. 

For anyone who is wondering whether or not they should submit work to YSW, Rowland feels that they should go for it and submit their work to the journal. She feels that the experience of working under YSW is absolutely invaluable, and she believes that the sense of pride that comes with having your work finished and published is wonderful and fulfilling. 

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This post was initially developed through a partnership between Dr. Cutrufello’s Fall 2024; Digital Writing students, who interviewed the author and drafted the posts, and Dr. Beam’s Fall 2024 WRT410: Editing and Style students, who handled the first round of edits. Shelby Welch edited it and updated it for publication.