The March for Our Lives Presents a Radical New Model for Youth Protest

"It is, at least, a generation that has now defined itself. Regardless of its long-term effects, the March for Our Lives is the first major statement by Americans born after 1999, who have presented a new template for protest. The March for Our Lives was a massive outcry against extreme violence delivered with a mix of pop sentiment, corporate coöperation, and an awareness of the socioeconomic privilege that allows certain voices to be heard louder than others. Youth protest today does not look like it did fifty years ago, although that’s boring to say. Many of the students came to Washington, D.C., with their parents. Stoneman Douglas students were met by politicians on Capitol Hill. The Washington Wizards invited them to basketball practice. Student journalists held a panel at the Newseum. A concert the night before was thrown in their honor, and Shake Shack sponsored a sign-making party.

The student leaders were grateful, thanking their celebrity donors and corporate sponsors on social media, posing in front of the little blue bird at Twitter’s Washington offices."

read newstory by EMILY WITT