Sitting Down & Standing Up for What's Right

TW: This post includes sensitive content relating to gun violence.

From Indigenous land dispossession during the founding of the United States to the legally codified enslavement of African people until the 19th century to the ways in which immigrants, people of color, and other marginalized groups are subjected to disproportionate violence and exclusion today, the U.S. has always constructed power hierarchies that value one type of life over another. Yet what is remarkable is that time and time again, injustice and inequality have been met with insurgency.

In the wake of different social, political and legal issues being spotlighted across the decades, citizens have been galvanized to speak out for what they believe in and demand change through collective civil disobedience. More often than not, these citizens have comprised primarily of the youth. How do historical movements compare with contemporary movements in scope, spread and impact?

The Greensboro Sit-Ins: the Fight for Desegregation

On February 1, 1960, at the peak of the Jim Crow Era of racial segregation, 4 young Black college students took seats at a "whites-only" lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was one of the most radical acts of protest of their time.

The next day, they were joined by 20 more students and by February 5, there were over 300 youth from local colleges and high schools joining in on this powerful statement against racial segregation. Not before long, the sit-ins had spread to other cities in North Carolina, as well as other states in the South, where this issue was most prevalent.

These increasingly widespread sit-ins spearheaded by young people led to the creation of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), which was committed to using nonviolent direct action to combat racial discrimination. It would be this committee that would go on to organize the 1961 Freedom Rides - where both Black and white folks rode together in buses to challenge racial segregation on public transport - and the famous 1963 March on Washington, at which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech.

While the sit-ins were largely successful, they were not without their challenges. The peaceful protesters faced disproportionately violent pushback from those who opposed the revolution - crowds of white men would harass them, verbally antagonize them, spit on them, and in one case, they even set a protestor's coat on fire. Ultimately though, those who were for the movement prevailed than those who were against it, and the lunch counter the 4 teenagers sat at, as well as countless of public spaces were desegregated. It represented not just a present victory for those involved with it then, but a future hope for movements to come.

March for our Lives: the Fight Against Gun Violence

On February 14, 2018, a 19-year-old opened fire on students and staff at a high school in Parkland, Florida - resulting in what came to be the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. at that time. Following this, survivors of the attack as well as thousands of students and teachers rallied at the Capitol in Washington DC to demand stricter gun control measures and legislative reform. It was the largest single day of protest against gun violence in history.

The U.S. is the only Western country in which there are more deaths among children and teenagers from gun violence than from cancer and motor vehicles. The Parkland shooting was far from the first shooting of the year, but it was so tragic and shocking that it propelled an army of young activists to the streets. Enough was enough.

The demonstration in Washington was just over a week after a national school walkout where thousands of students in New York City, Santa Monica, Chicago, and many more. The walkout lasted 17 minutes to honor the 17 lives that were lost in the Florida shooting.

Since the creation of March For Our Lives, over 250 gun safety laws have been passed, and billions of dollars invested into programs dedicated to this cause. There is no doubt about the central role of the youth's collective power in making officials listen and not stop there - but actually implement practical policy changes.

Nevertheless, there is still much work to be done as gun violence remains one of the leading causes of death for young people in America, and gun control one of the most contentious topics in American politics, especially with organizations such as the National Rifle Association who stand to profit from the sale of firearms. It would be remiss not to put this topic in conversation with the 2024 presidential elections, which is now mere days away, as the future president stands to have a huge say on how gun laws will be shaped in coming years.

Regardless of the outcome though, I am confident that the same young folks who were brave enough to stand up and speak out against a system that was broken then, will be every so ready to do it again.

A Side by Side Look

While these two movements clearly differ in many ways - one was targeting racial segregation and the other, gun violence; - I actually found that they had a lot more in common that may meet the eye at first glance:

1. Both movements address(ed) a larger picture

   • The sit-ins were not just about desegregating public spaces, but about challenging racism and discrimination as an institutionalized way of being, and recognizing that all men should be equal under the law. The marches that were borne out of the school shootings were also about the broader issue of gun violence even in other contexts, such as police brutality and homicidal killing.

2. Both movements enlisted the help of allies

   • It wasn't just African Americans who were a part of the sit-ins - it started with them, but over time, it became a coalition effort of everyone from all racial backgrounds. The Greensboro Four had Ralph Johns, a local white businessman, alert social media to promote coverage of their protest. The March For Our Lives movement involved everyone who was outraged by the lack of protections against gun violence for students, regardless of whether or not they lived in a high-risk state.

3. Both movements leveraged the media to raise awareness for their cause

   • It is a no-brainer than in this social media era we live in, the March For Our Lives movement was able to garner support from all across the country and the globe, uniting people under the shared vision of #NeverAgain. Even pre-social media, in the '60s, the media played a huge role in bringing what was going on at the lunch counter in North Carolina to everyone's newspapers and TV screens

So what does this mean for you?

Keeping these key takeaways from both movements in mind, how can you get involved!?

1. Educate yourself: It is so important to stay up to date with current affairs issues plaguing our country, making sure to consume sources from different sides to get a well-balanced picture of what's really going on. In the increasingly polarizing world we live in, I dare say staying apolitical is hardly an option.

2. Be an ally!: You don't have to be directly impacted to get involved with a cause. We are all human, and so we are all eligible to join in on the fight for human rights. Centering empathy and curiosity is indispensable when it comes to this.

3. Use your platform: You do not have to be an influencer with 100,000 followers to make use of your social media platforms to inform and engage with the social issues you care about. Share an infographic you found helpful on your story, or donate $5 to a GoFundMe page to support initiatives.

   
   

Sources:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/us/student-protest-movements.html

• https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in

• https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/modern-history/greensboro-sit-ins/

• https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/greensboro-sit-in/

• https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/parkland-florida-never-again-march-for-our-lives-anniversary/

• https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/