As in the civil rights movement, young people have been heavily involved in recent protests, but Black people have never been shielded from the conversations about racism, Professor Gaines said.
Occasionally, glimpses of these moments are caught on social media, as in Charlotte, N.C., in June, when a Black teenager and two Black men, each in a different decade of life, had an emotional exchange about how to best protest.
More often, these conversations help pass the baton. In Kalamazoo, Mich., KeyMaura Lewis, 15, said that she and her grandparents, Marvin and Barbara Gilleylen, had been having conversations about police brutality and racism since she was in elementary school.
But Mr. Floyds death was the tipping point for Ms. Lewis, who is Black. It moved her to organize a protest in her area with her grandparents support. (They also bought snacks.)
Some adults, they just overpower us, Ms. Lewis said. They look at us like most of the time we dont know what were talking about or that our voices and opinions dont matter.
Her grandparents, though, have included Ms. Lewis in conversations. They have told her about the oppression they faced growing up, shared lessons from those experiences and pushed her to help other Black Americans with that perspective.
They have children and they worry about them coming home like any Black parents, and they know why I protest and what Im fighting for, Ms. Lewis said.read more
How Teenage Activists Are Talking to Family About Racial Injustice
