Kids to The Front
Meet the teens taking the lead in the fight for our future.
March 4 Our Future, which took place November 1 in San Francisco. Photography by Bréana Parks.
During the past 72 hours, we have all obsessively watched the map of our country as if it were a mood ring, its changing hues revealing our deepest truths. And while the wide swaths of red can feel like a gut punch, it’s worth looking closer at the demographics to understand which are the voters actually responsible for moving the needle this time around—and who we should pay attention to going forward. An early estimate of youth voter turnout in 11 crucial battleground states (AZ, GA, IA, NC, FL, OH, MT, CO, WI, TX, SC) suggests that 47%-49% of all eligible young people cast ballots in this election, and if votes continue coming in at the same rate in each state, that percentage could rise to 51%-53%. What got these young voters to the polls this year? It wasn’t listening to their parents. Over the past few years, youth-led organizations have taken the reigns when it comes to getting marchers out in the streets and new voters to the polls. One of those is Youth Advocates for Change, a new nonprofit founded by 17-year-old Tiana Day and focused on amplifying youth voices and inspiring local action. Tiana realized the power she and her friends held a few months back when she sent out a call over Instagram for folks to join her for a Black Lives Matter march over the Golden Gate Bridge. She told the New York Times that she thought “something like 50 people would show up.” There were thousands, stretching for miles, shutting down traffic on the entire southbound portion of the bridge.
Her activism has only picked up steam since. She has played an organizing role in nearly a dozen protests and get out the vote initiatives over the last few months, including BLM protests in San Francisco and her hometown of San Ramon, the Youth March 4 Black Freedom to the California state capitol building on the 4th of July, A March for Change in SF, Women’s in Solidarity to BLM in SF, and the Women's March SF March for Our Rights. Most recently, she teamed up with 5 other Bay Area-based youth activists—Sydney Wanguhu, Jack Prichard, Cami Clizbe, Sofia Viscuglia and Henry Shane—to organize March 4 Our Future, a march and rally in San Francisco that took place two days before Election Day. Hundreds of people turned out, mostly youth, for an empowering and inspiring event that included youth speakers, a DJ, and a march through downtown SF.
”Sunday's event was everything we could've asked for,” says Tiana. “Extremely peaceful and empowering in two words. Everything went smoothly, there were no difficulties or challenges we faced! The turnout was great! We probably had a few hundred I'd say show up everyone wore masks and were able to social distance at the rally in front of the Phillip Burton Federal Building. We had a very diverse turnout with people from all backgrounds but most importantly the youth. Our crowd was mainly teenagers who were eager to get involved and make a difference!”
Activist Ethan George. Photography by Bréana Parks.
REP CO spoke with Tiana about Sunday’s event and the long-term goals of her organization Youth Advocates for Change.
What’s the mission of Youth Advocates For Change?
“We want YA4C to be an all-inclusive organization where all teens/youth feel they can come and feel accepted. We work together to put on events and start projects that will help make an impact through intersectional social justice and making society more inclusive, diverse and accepting.”
how the group for Sunday’s protest came together?
“This group connected after I was asked to be a guest speaker about my activism to the Monte Vista High School (of Danville, CA) leadership class. After the talk I connected with Sydney Wanguhu, Jack Prichard, Cami Clizbe and Sofia Viscuglia as they wanted to learn more on how to get involved in my upcoming nonprofit. We began doing weekly meetings and I decided I wanted to do one last march/protest and asked for their help. Originally this protest was supposed to be planned in Danville, as we did a protest in Danville the week before, since Danville is a very conservative area. I am from San Ramon which is the neighboring city.“
“After starting to plan the protest we decided we were going to take this march to the streets of San Francisco instead for hope of a bigger turnout and impact. I was filming a youth-voter awareness video in San Francisco for Youth Advocates for Change later that week where I interviewed Henry Shane. I met and befriended Henry at a protest that I spoke at called A March for Change at Alamo Square park in San Francisco back in July. After filming this video and talking more, I knew Henry would be a great person to contact to help plan this protest—he has helped organize and lead several protests as well including the community of Menlo Park & LGBTQ+ community in solidarity to BLM, the Global Climate Strike, Black Rock Climate Strike, and Menlo Park in solidarity to BLM and Remembering George Floyd. Sydney, Jack, Cami and Sofia organize weekly protests in Danville for BLM and voter awareness. The 6 of us have been organizing over Zoom and iMessage!”
March 4 Our Future organizers (left to right) Jack Prichard, Sofia Viscuglia, Tiana Day, Sydney Wanguhu, Cami Clizbe and Henry Shane. Photography by Bréana Parks.
There has been a greater focus on youth-led actions during this time. Why do you think following the lead of younger people is especially important right now?
“I definitely think there has been a greater focus on youth-led actions because people often try to discredit the youth due to their age, but I think seeing so many youth-led initiatives has definitely inspired more teens and youth to get out and fight for our future! So many people's rights are on the line this election and we want to represent everyone in this march.”
March 4 Our Future, which took place November 1 in San Francisco. Photography by Bréana Parks.
Tell us about the demands for Sunday's event and how you decided on those.
“Our demands are: Recognition of the climate crisis; Reproductive rights and equal pay for women; Police reform and reallocation of funds; Full equality and protection to the LGBTQ+ community; Gun reform nationwide; and the Protection of Human Rights—this umbrella term is used for Black Americans, Immigrants & Indigenous. We decided on these demands because we believe we need to march for all the marginalized groups that are affected in this election.”
March 4 Our Future, which took place November 1 in San Francisco. Photography by Bréana Parks.
As was predicted, enthusiasm and support, specifically for the Black Lives Matter movement, has waned, particularly among white folks. Have you seen a change in energy and attendance since you first started organizing, and do you have any advice for people trying to keep up the momentum and stay involved?
“Personally, I have definitely seen an energy change as many protests are not as popular as they were back in spring. My first protest had a mass amount of attendees and as time went on we had less involvement because the movement began to die down. I think the energy starts within one! Don't worry about the turnout of a protest, think about the impact it'll make on the people. I did a panel with the New York Times a week ago and I said if any kids out there see what I do or what WE do and want to do something similar all of us will welcome anyone with open arms, especially to add into the nonprofit because activism is about sharing the space with others. It's not about one story but more of a collection of all of ours which is what makes activism so inspiring and powerful. When I said those words on the panel a girl from Ohio named Paloma reached out to me to say she saw my story and wanted to do her own protest. So on November 1st 12-3 pm she also had a protest under the same name in collaboration with ours in Perrysburg, Ohio, in her community. We created a GoFundMe for this event and were able to raise $1,300 for this protest. With leftover funds, we were able to fully fund her protest in Ohio and send her items they needed like megaphones, masks, and vests for peace ambassadors.”
March 4 Our Future, which took place November 1 in San Francisco. Photography by Bréana Parks.
How will the outcome of the election determine your activism going forward?
“The outcome of the election determines a lot for me as a young Black female growing up in America. My reproductive rights are at stake and the threat to take away funding from Planned Parenthood, which a lot of teens I know go for so many different reasons, including getting counseling for depression and mental illness, is as well. In addition, if we don't do anything to seriously address the climate crisis we won't have many years left on this planet!!”
What actions do you have coming up?
“We are back to the streets this Saturday November 7th, 12 p.m.-2 p.m., either protesting or celebrating depending on the outcome of the election. It'll be across the Golden Gate Bridge where my activism began, so I am very excited to get out there and hopefully to celebrate the outcome of the election, but I am coming into this week prepared to exercise my freedom to protest if it goes south.”
From left: Tiana Day, Sydney Wanguhu, Cami Clizbe and Henry Shane, 4 of the 6 co-organizers of March 4 Our Future, which took place November 1 in San Francisco. Photography by Bréana Parks.