Building a New Protest Movement
A generation found its voice in 2020, harnessing social media to lead the fight for change in their communities
Khalea edwards didn’t believe it at first. Someone on a text chain of organizers from Occupy City Hall STL, a movement she helped lead this past summer calling for the resignation of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, informed the group in November that Krewson was retiring. Edwards wanted proof. Then Krewson made the announcement herself. “We spent the whole day in shock,” Edwards says. “We were crying.”
“Protesting works. Pro-tes-ting works,” the 21-yearold says of the bombshell from the mayor, who in June had broadcast the names and addresses of activists calling for the city to defund the police. “Folks said our demands were impossible to meet, but now we’re here and Lyda Krewson is a one-term mayor, which is exactly what we were chanting for in the streets. It’s just beautiful.”
Countless young people of color across the United States learned about the power of protest firsthand following George Floyd’s death last spring. They organized marches, vigils, sit-ins, and, yes, occupations of government property — and they did so at great personal risk. “You didn’t know what was going to happen, whether you were coming home or whether you were
getting arrested,” says Chelsea Miller, co-founder of Freedom March NYC. “I chose that it was worth it to put my life in danger because this movement was far greater than me.”
The demonstrations drew thousands of supporters, thanks largely to the reach of social media. But internet virality is only as good as what you do with it. “It’s important to remember we are more than hashtags,” says Miller. “We live in a popcorn society, where it’s on to the next thing within seconds. We need to think about being able to sustainably support this work, so when the cameras turn off we’re able to do that.”
For many, this involved rallying voters to boot Donald Trump out of office. But now that the president has been handed his walking papers, activists are turning their attention to bringing about change at the local level. Rolling Stone spoke with young organizers from around the country who are parlaying the enthusiasm they generated last summer into providing platforms for the marginalized, kick-starting new awareness initiatives, and pushing lawmakers to enact equitable policies across a wide range of issues — from criminal justice to affordable housing to education. “The fight isn’t over because Donald Trump is out of office,” says Atlanta activist Madison Crenshaw. “That does not mean we stop. We have to keep going until everyone is equal.”