High School Students Walk Out, Saying: “Graduations Not Funerals”
Dec 19, 2014
Posted in Education/Schools/Youth, Equal Rights/Equity, Ferguson/Black Lives Matter
By Ken Epstein
Wanting their voices to be heard in the growing protests against police impunity, high school students walked out of school and protested Wednesday in front of the office building at 1000 Broadway where the Oakland school district headquarters is located.
Among the protesters were students from Oakland Technical High, Bunche Academy, MetWest and Dewey Academy. The students were predominately African American, Latino and a few Pacific islanders.
“The students have a voice. We don’t agree with police not being indicted,” said Mishel, a 12th grader at MetWest.
Students chanted: “Indict! Convict! Send those killer cops to jail! The whole damn system is guilty as hell!”
Handmade protest signs said: “Save Lives – Don’t End them;” “Graduations, Not Funerals” and “Protect Us Too.”
Some protesters emphasized that this demonstration marked just the beginning of high school student activism.
“You’ll be seeing us a lot,” said Toa, a Tongan student who goes to Bunche Academy. “I’m doing this for the Polynesians. We need justice, too.”