Young novice protesters help drive US wave of dissent
Peaceful gatherings at heart of a nationwide movement
When a Woodland rally was held in early June calling for changes in policing following the murder of George Floyd, it wasn’t organized by adults or even college-age students, but by a group of teens just graduated from local high schools.
The same group of teens also organized a Juneteenth Celebration and an evening gathering for gay pride.
The group, which calls itself “Woodland Heritage & Youth!,” is barely two months old but is part of a growing grassroots and decentralized wave of young people across the United States who are helping drive the outpouring of protest against racism and police brutality in cities and towns.
Many of the groups don’t know each other and have zero contact, according to national reports.
But the sight of George Floyd, who died after pleading for air beneath a police officer’s knee on May 25, was a galvanizing force for many.
Nationally, some older activists have quit their jobs to focus on organizing Black Lives Matter protests, others are simply looking for a way to get out of their homes after weeks of sheltering in place to protect themselves from the coronavirus pandemic. But all seemingly want things to change and are unwilling to wait for “more mature” adults to take action.
In Woodland, the activism is fueled by several factors, but primarily the desire to create change at the local level.
Aiden Delgado is 18 and a graduate of Cache Creek High School is one of the organizers of WHY! Another is Jasmine Deal, who just graduated from Woodland High. Both were at Freeman Park earlier this month for a gay pride rally and both helped organize several days of protests and demonstrations in the wake of Floyd’s killing.
There are maybe 10 members of the group and are very loosely organized, arranging get-togethers via social media such as Snapchat and Facebook.
They’re seemingly having an effect. Woodland police — who were also appalled by the murder of Floyd — reiterated their commitment toward community policing and have stressed that the use of force would be used only if necessary and that chokeholds were also prohibited.
Interim City Manager Ken Hiatt recently noted those “strong statements” as well as statements made by the council on Floyd’s murder. Several weeks ago, the council even held 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence in Floyd’s memory. Floyd had a kneed pressed into his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds before he died.
Hiatt said Woodland police are continuing to implement changes in their policies, practices and procedures and are now working on a process to “engage the community and inviting people to refine those policies.” He said a community forum is being planned for August where it’s hoped a “community dialogue” can be held on how police can effect change.
Unlike protesters in the 1970s, who used violence to bring about the end of the Vietnam War, the Woodland teens are seemingly low-key. They’re friendly and easy to talk to as they explain their motivations and desire for change. At the gay pride event in Freeman Park, Delgado even interrupted one conversation so she could remind several youths that they couldn’t smoke in the park. The smokers apologized and left for another location.
During several George Floyd demonstrations, also held at Freeman Park, the group urged chants and sign-waving and made sure people maintained the tempers. Police praised the group for keeping the peace even as they monitored the events to make sure no one brought any trouble.
Additionally, Delgado and others in the group put out a line of orange cones on the grass of Freeman Park to keep protesters and the homeless — who were in another section of the park — separated and used their own money to buy water and snacks.
The group has also asked people to be face masked at all of the gatherings — although not everyone does so. At the gay pride event, members of WHY! were selling rainbow-colored masks as part of their fundraiser.
The pride event was also visited by Deputy Police Chief Anthony Cucchi, who received and later wore a rainbow-colored ribbon, presented him by the teens.
Later, as Cucchi got into an animated discussion with a woman over what the meaning behind “Black Lives Matter,” Deal simply watched and smiled, seemingly at the amount of energy going into a discussion already resolved to her satisfaction.
Like others nationally, members of WHY! are new to organizing, but have seen a drumbeat of deaths of police-brutality cases captured on video since they were young children. Social media is second nature for many, and they’re showing how small groups can translate online information quickly into real-life action.
Now, in big cities and small towns, both liberal and conservative, they are taking matters into their own hands and bringing together hundreds of thousands of people to press for change.
The novice organizers’ visions for the future differ, but they all hope their voices are helping create a historic turning point in dismantling racism and inequity.
Tiffany Medrano Martinez had just graduated from eighth grade when she decided to organize a peaceful demonstration in her hometown of Redwood City. The 14-year-old had watched protests sweep the country in the wake of Floyd’s death, some accompanied by unrest in the form of smashed windows, stolen goods and burned buildings.
She said she understands the roots of anger but wanted the keep the focus on reforms. So she put together an online flier setting the event for June 2, and wrote “don’t take anger out on small businesses.”
Within an hour, someone had altered the flier so it said the opposite. As word spread online, local leaders got worried. So she and her friends called the mayor and the police department to reassure them they didn’t want any property damage.
The event came together as she had intended, with nearly 3,000 demonstrators gathered in the center of town. The sea of peaceful protesters brought her to tears.
“When I voice out my opinions it usually doesn’t get heard. It was crazy that people were actually hearing it for once,” she said. “As youth, we have a much bigger voice than we expect we have.”
She wants more police training and more testing of officer candidates to weed out those who might become violent. And like many others, she also wants more taxpayer money spent on social programs instead of police militaristic gear — an effort often called defunding the police.
That idealism can be seen locally. Members of WHY! are familiar with local police officers, having been visited in classrooms since they were in elementary school. Some have received Gang Resistance Education and Training and others have been involved in youth events such as the Police Activities League.
In Woodland, the teens are no anti-police, but rather favor reorganizing how law enforcement interacts with the public, based partly on their own experiences at how they were treated by police while they were attending school.
Halfway across the country in Detroit, 16-year-old Stefan Perez said his only real public speaking experience was on his school’s debate team before early June, when he was handed a megaphone and asked to help lead a protest at the city’s police headquarters.
That night, he also stepped into the no man’s land between the lines of protesters and police, putting his hands behind his back in a silent appeal for calm.
“At the end of the day, I wanted people to get home safe,” he said. “The people who are with me and watching are the voice of Detroit.”
Protesters have skewed younger demographically, with a median age of 30 or younger, at several major demonstrations since Floyd’s death, said Dana R.
Fisher, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and author of the book “American Resistance.”
Many older adults are staying home due to their increased risk of the coronavirus and the pandemic has left younger people with more free time by forcing the cancellation of everything from internships to beach plans.
“These are young people who have been trapped inside, which is increasing anxiety, increasing social isolation,” Fisher said. “This call for solidarity has rung really true for them.”
Most of the protesters she has surveyed report hearing about the rallies from decentralized sources, like their family, friends or the social-media platform Instagram, which is popular among younger people.
In Oakland, a flier posted on Instagram by two 19-year-olds for a George Floyd Solidarity March drew 15,000 people.
One of them, Xavier Brown, said he was determined to transform the social media attention into real-life action. “I was very tired of seeing every single police brutality case get turned into a hashtag.”
The comments began around the time of President Donald Trump’s election and Perez and others thought their classmates were emboldened by Trump, who has referred to immigrants as “animals” and “criminals.”
The Wimberley protest also drew a few young detractors, who laughed at them and posted videos online.
But Perez said realizing she could draw many more like-minded people to protest in public within a matter of hours was empowering and satisfying.
“There’s a lot of loving people in our community who will stand by us,” she said.
While many of the newly minted organizers around the country are first-time protesters, others have been leading similar efforts for years. Eva Maria Lewis, 21, is an activist in Chicago who has been speaking out since she was 16.
Now, she runs a network of people helping deliver groceries and household goods to people living in neighborhoods on the south and west sides of Chicago, where access has become more difficult during the protests and corresponding police presence amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s also an all hands on deck moment. I have never in my life seen or heard of something like this,” she said.
Lewis has a sweeping vision of the future, one where everyone has access to food, healthcare and quality education.
“When we create space to have conversation we create space to transform,” she said. “Don’t let nobody tell you you don’t have enough experience. It’s not that difficult to get started, you just have to do it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
“At the end of the day, I wanted people to get home safe. The people who are with me and watching are the voice of Detroit.” — Stefan Perez
Contact reporter Jim Smith at 530-406-6230.