4 ST THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020paigning to remove the police from inside
Chicago’s public schools. She has been on
the front lines of the city’s protests and
cleanup efforts, where she saw people tear-
gassed for the first time. It has not deterred
her (though it has worried her mother).
And from her bedroom in St. Louis, where
she lives with her parents while on break
from college, Brianna Chandler, 19, was us-
ing social media to organize a teach-in for
local high school and college students to
learn about racial justice. Two older activ-
ists called in, including Cori Bush, who is
running for Congress; another girl, part of a
local arts troupe, read a poem about police
brutality.
“I think that educating people is essential
to movement building,” said Ms. Chandler,
who is also active in the Sunrise Movement,
a youth-led climate justice organization.
Teen girls have long been at the forefront
of social progress. Think Malala Yousafzai,
Emma González or Greta Thunberg.
So have Black women. It was three Black
women — Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia
Garza and Opal Tometi — who founded the
Black Lives Matter organization. Black
women led early movements for voting
rights and have organized some of the most
successful campaigns for civil rights.
These teenagers are stepping up to con-
tinue that legacy.
By Zoom from their homes (and in a se-
ries of follow-ups), The New York Times
spoke with Ms. Thomas, Ms. Day, Ms.
Turner and Ms. Chandler about racial jus-
tice, youth activism and what they hope for
the future. This interview was edited and
condensed.
Zee and Tiana, neither of you had ever led a
protest before. What propelled you?
ZEEIt’s crazy. I’ve never been to a protest
before — like, ever. This is my first protest
and probably not my only one, but being
that I didn’t have the experience, I didn’t
know what to do. I got inspired by what peo-
ple were doing all across America, but there
was no protest in Nashville at the time. I
was like: “Why isn’t Tennessee doing any-
thing? Why are they silent?”
So I was like: “Enough is enough. We’re
going to do something.” I got on social me-
dia. Social media was like my best friend
when it comes to this. I met my other organ-
izers there. They contacted me on Twitter
and Instagram. They were like, “Can I
help?” I was like, “Sure.”
I was nervous to talk to my mom at first. I
said, “Mom, if I do this, would you be OK
with it?” She didn’t question me, which was
really surprising. She was like, “I’m going
to be behind you every step of the way.” And
that’s what really set it off.
TIANAFor me, I was never really an activist
before. But this movement lit a fire in me.
I live in San Ramon, a suburban town in
California, and I’ve grown up around people
who didn’t look like me my whole life. And
I’ve been constantly trying to fit in. I would
stay out of the sun so I wouldn’t tan. I would
straighten my hair every day. There’s so
many things that I did to try to suppress
who I was and what my culture was. And it’s
sick now to think of it. I just never felt like
myself.
But I have always had this, like, boiling
thing, this boiling passion in my body to
want to make a change in the world. I just
never knew what it was. So when Mimi, my
co-organizer, commented on an Instagram
post about needing a leader for a protest, I
D.M.-ed her. We organized the entire thing
in 18 hours, pushing out a single flier.
We bought three cases of water because
we thought it was enough. It was like four
miles straight of people who were there to
support the movement, and honestly, most
of them weren’t even Black. They were al-
lies. It was so beautiful.
I think I found myself through this move-
ment.
You are each leading major actions with
thousands of people, typically organizing
from the bedrooms where you live with your
parents. How have your families responded?
SHAYLAMy mom actually found out I was
protesting through the newspaper. She was
in Walgreens and did a double take because
I was on the cover of The Chicago Tribune.
She called me, and I was so scared, because
I had lied to her and said that I was going
out with my friends that day.
She was like, “I remember that day, you
lied to my face!” But I had to. She doesn’t
really think it’s safe, and she doesn’t want
me out there. But at the end of the day, I’m
going to be out there, and it’s better for me
to tell her where I am. It actually brought us
closer. We keep having these sentimental
moments where she’s just super proud of
me and she’ll start crying.
TIANAMy dad is from Richmond, which is a
rougher part of the Bay Area. And he
worked his butt off — he worked five jobs at
one point — to make sure that we could live
in a house in a nice area. I think he kind of
sheltered me, or tried to shelter me, from
the hardships of being a Black American.
And come to find out, my dad was part of
the movement against police brutality after
Rodney King. My grandfather was part of
the Black Panther movement. I have so
much Black history in my life.
You never knew about this before?TIANANot until two weeks ago! At the pro-
test, I spoke about how I’ve lived in my city
for over 15 years, and police still racially
profile my family. When my dad is driving,
they pull him over and run his plates and
ask him where he’s going. He says, “Home,
like the rest of you.” We all live in this com-
munity, and it’s sad to see my Black broth-
ers and sisters discriminated against. We
have the right to live here just like you do,
but we have to work two times harder to get
here.
When I finished speaking, my dad was
crying. He said, “You remind me of myself.”
I was like, “Why?” And he goes, “Because I
was an activist at your age.” I said: “What?
Why didn’t you tell me?” I was so mad at
him! He said, “Yeah, your great-grandfa-
ther was too.” So now I know, it’s in my
blood.Brianna, you grew up in St. Louis, where you
said that your parents put books about
Black liberation in your hands as soon as
you could read. Do you think that led to your
activism as an adult?BRIANNAMy parents pushed me to become
educated about Black history in part be-
cause they worked really hard to put me in
private schools. And they knew that going
to a predominantly white institution would
not teach me about my history.
When I have gone to marches in the past,
my dad has always been there with me. But
I’ve never really been what I consider to be
“on the front lines.” Most of what I do is on-
line. So when I realized that I wouldn’t be
able to actually go anywhere to protests,
due to Covid and safety concerns, I just kind
of sat down and typed out how I was feeling.
I posted, and then I kept thinking and
writing and posting, and it grew from there.
What I call “consciousness raising,” be-
cause I think that educating people is essen-
tial to movement building. There are a lot of
different parts of a movement.Shayla, you were part of a youth climate
strike last year, where you gave a speech in
front of thousands. You also said you had a
fear of public speaking. How did you over-
come that?SHAYLAI’ve always been really outspoken,
but also really introverted. But my junior
year, there was a youth climate strike, and I
just felt like I had to speak out. I go to a pre-
dominantly Black and Brown school on the
southwest side of Chicago, and there were
three teachers who really inspired me to
use my voice. They stayed late with me and
practiced my speech over and over. The day
before, I vomited three times because I was
so nervous.
But I did it, and I did it damn well. I think I
just had a choice to either keep my voice in
or speak out and continue. And right after
my speech, I was like: “So when’s the next
one? I’m here.”
BRIANNAI just want to shout out Shayla, be-
cause climate justice is racial justice. Black
Lives Matter isn’t just about eliminating po-
lice brutality. It’s about dismantling all sys-
tems that endanger Black people.
What’s something about your generation
that people get wrong?BRIANNAThat our anger is not valid, that we
don’t have a reason to be angry, that we
don’t have a reason to riot. You know, there
is that super popular Malcolm X quote:
“The most disrespected person in America
is the Black woman.”
It’s the idea that Black women have to say
things nicely, or they have to say things us-
ing standard English, or that they’re igno-
rant if they speak using African-American
vernacular English. I think what the world
gets wrong is that the anger of Black wom-
en isn’t valid — and it is. It’s more valid than
I think any white person can comprehend.
ZEEI also want people to know that we’re
not strong all the time. We’re allowed to be
weak. We are teenagers, we’re young wom-
en, and we’re allowed to be emotional, espe-
cially when we see people of our skin color
getting killed.
As Black women, we’re often expected tobe the higher person. We’re expected to be
stronger and more diligent when it comes to
our emotions. I think the stereotype about
Black women being strong is true. But we’re
people just like everybody else, we experi-
ence emotions like everybody else.
How are you all taking care of yourselves
right now?SHAYLAI’ve been taking rest days, and
sometimes I’ll delete social media for a cou-
ple of hours and watch movies or do some-
thing that makes me happy. It just gets so
exhausting seeing a new name and a new
hashtag.
TIANAI try to space out a free day. Like, to-
morrow I will have absolutely nothing
planned. Yesterday I had absolutely noth-
ing planned. And with all the attention the
movement is getting, especially on young
Black people who are leading these pro-
tests, I think it’s important we turn certain
opportunities down because you can’t do
everything.
ZEEI try to focus on what I’m doing at the
moment and just live in it. And that’s how
my mental health has improved within
these past few days. Because of course, ev-
ery time you go on social media there’s al-
ways something happening. Like, you get
burned out from hearing that news. You get
burned out because that’s the life we have to
live.
Mental health in the Black community
isn’t taken very seriously. And a lot of ourparents, or our parents’ parents, have men-
tal health problems, and that goes on to the
future generations without any help. So I
feel like, as far as mental health right now,
you have to just live in the moment. Be-
cause personally, if I think about the future,
that just makes me more anxious.When’s the last time you did something to
feel like a teen?ZEEOh gosh. I don’t even know! That’s kind
of sad, isn’t it?
BRIANNAI think the most normal thing I do
is just watch TV. Like stuff about vampires
and werewolves, stuff that’s not based on
reality, to help me de-stress.Where do you want to see the movement go
from here?SHAYLAI want to see an entire revolution
led by youth. I feel like we are definitely ca-
pable of that. We have the power, and we
have the voices.Why do you think we are seeing so many
young women leading?ZEEBecause we are tired. Our generation
had to grow up too quickly in order to make
sure our younger siblings and even our kids
will grow up in a world where we are equal
and free to be who we are regardless of skin
color or gender identity or sexuality.Do you think there’s a difference in the way
your generation is approaching this move-
ment from those who’ve come before you?BRIANNAI will say that sometimes the more
popular elder activists are reformist. And I
think that my generation is kind of calling
for abolition rather than reform. Like, we
don’t just want to give police body cameras.
We want to get rid of the police because we
don’t feel like they’re making anyone safer.
We don’t feel like they’re making our neigh-
borhoods better.
And that’s not new. Like, Angela Davis
has been saying that, many radical Black
people of the past have been saying it. I
think people are just becoming more aware
of it.
What gives you hope?TIANAHow many people are sticking up
and starting protests.
BRIANNASeeing all of the people who are
going beyond social media to educate them-
selves — donating, reading and having con-
versations with their friends and family.
SHAYLAChicago youth give me hope. Ev-
eryone in my close friend group is involved
within this movement, and many others.
That’s kind of normal for kids here, because
everyone cares.
ZEEAfter the protest, I really couldn’t sleep
at all. I was on Twitter, as usual. And there
was this one tweet from a mother. And I re-
member it so clearly, because I started cry-
ing. She said, “I’m happy that my daughter
will grow up in a world that these young
girls will change.”
And that’s a moment where I felt really
powerful, because my main goal, as a per-
son and as an upcoming activist, is to make
sure that people know that things will
change. Eventually.Teen Girls Fighting for a Just Future
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Top from left, Zee Thomas
with her co-organizers in
Nashville: Kennedy Green,
Nya Collins, Emma Rose
Smith, Jade Fuller and
Mikayla Smith. Middle left,
Brianna Chandler, who has
been using social media to
enact what she calls
“consciousness raising.”
Middle right, Tiana Day with
her father, Tiayadi Day, who
took part in the movement
against police brutality after
Rodney King. Above, Shayla
Turner has been campaigning
to remove the police from
Chicago’s public schools.‘Black Lives Matter isn’t
just about eliminating
police brutality.’
YASMINE MALONE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESWHITNEY CURTIS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES JAMES TENSUAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESCARLOS ORTIZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES