“You Can’t Preach Unity With a Monument Built on Division”

It was one of those warm October nights in Baton Rouge when the air felt heavy and the campus pulsed with quiet tension. Inside the LSU Student Union auditorium, the Board of Trustees gathered to vote on a proposal few expected to be controversial — a bronze statue honoring the late conservative figure Charlie Kirk.

Routine. Predictable. Another line on the agenda.

Until Flau’jae Johnson stood up.

The LSU basketball star — and rising hip-hop artist — walked slowly to the microphone. She didn’t shout. She didn’t waver. She simply looked out at the crowd and began,
“I love this university. But if we’re going to build monuments, they should be monuments that bring us together — not pull us apart.”

The room fell silent.
Phones lifted. Cameras rolled. Something shifted.

Charlie Kirk’s proposed statue had divided opinion for weeks. To some, he was a voice of conviction; to others, a symbol of the nation’s growing polarization. When Flau’jae spoke, she didn’t talk politics. She talked about belonging.

“This campus belongs to every student — every background, every story, every dream,” she said.
“When we honor someone whose impact divides more than it unites, we teach the next generation that influence outweighs empathy.”

Then came the line that would echo far beyond LSU:
“You can’t preach unity with a monument built on division.”

By midnight, the clip had gone viral. #FlaujaeSpeaks topped trending charts.
Some hailed her courage; others condemned her defiance. But behind all the noise, her message struck something rare — conviction without anger, truth without bitterness.

Weeks later, the Board quietly “postponed” the statue proposal. On the campus quad, the spot once reserved for bronze remains empty — just grass, sun, and the memory of one voice that refused to stay silent.

Asked months later if she regretted speaking up, Flau’jae smiled.
“No,” she said softly. “Because I wasn’t speaking for today. I was speaking for whoever comes next.”

Some monuments are carved in stone.
Others are spoken into history.