The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Winfrey praises Florida students’ activism
LOS ANGELES — Oprah Winfrey has nothing but praise for the Florida school shooting survivors who have channeled angst into activism, calling them “warriors of the light” and comparing them to civil rights pioneers.
Winfrey Saturday drew parallels between the teens and the Freedom Riders of the 1960s, who rode buses into southern states in protest of racial segregation. Winfrey called the Parkland students’ protests for gun control “a proud moment.”
“It’s an evolving moment for our country. The same thing happened, as you know, back in the ’50s and ’60s for the civil rights movement,” Winfrey said. “Young people said, ‘We will not tolerate what our ancestors have tolerated. We have had enough and we’re willing to fight for it and willing to march in the streets for it and, if necessary, die for it.’”