In the cradle of the civil rights movement, the next generation of activists, operating under a mantle that began as #BlackLivesMatter, is making strides.
These new activist leaders are mostly young, frequently female and not necessarily straight. And their tactics are unapologetically in your face.
But if they were actually in your specific face, would you even know who they are?
There’s Mary Hooks, 33, an organizer of the Atlanta Black Lives Matter chapter. “This is not your granddaddy’s civil rights movement,” she says. “We’re not sitting around and waiting for someone in a suit to come save us.”
There’s Aurielle Marie Lucier, 21, a spokesperson for the Atlanta social justice organization #ItsBiggerThanYou. “We’re in a different climate, with a different movement and different tactics,” she says. “It doesn’t matter what you look like or how you present yourself.”
There’s Dre Norman, an Illinois native and LGBT activist who, being 47, qualifies as an elder in the new movement. “We’ve got to keep people in the streets. … There’s a lot of work to be done.”
What do some of Atlanta's civic and political leaders have to say about these new activists, and vice versa? Find out on MyAJC.com.
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