7-Year-Old Gives Moving Speech During Peaceful Protest in New York
Lakyia Jackson says that her seven-year-old daughter, Wynta-Amor Rogers, just wants her voice to be heard. And after videos of the first-grader protesting have gone viral, her message is being shared around the world.
On Wednesday, a clip of the young protester shared by the LI Herald garnered attention, as the young activist marched with determination, chanting, "No Justice, No Peace." Currently, the video has been viewed over 22 million times.
And in a video posted by Newsday on Thursday, Rogers is seen giving an optimistic speech at a Black Lives Matter protest in Merrick, NY.
"So for my message for people," Rogers began. "I just want y'all to be strong, we can get through this. And whoever is like, homeless, we got you, just call us."
When asked why she was marching, the Roosevelt Children's Academy student had a noble answer.
"I just want everybody to get along," the child replied. "I want us to be a good New York community. If we get through with this, we can fight this."
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In an interview with Newsday, Rogers said she's glad her voice is being celebrated.
"I'm just so grateful," she said. "My message is to people is that we can fight through this. As soon as this is over, in one year, we're going to hug our family, go outside some more, and be peaceful."
She later added: "I was marching because I want black people and white people to be together."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Meet Wynta-Amor Rogers. A video of the 7-year-old at a protest in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Merrick?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Merrick</a> yesterday went viral. She has a message for everyone. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LIprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LIprotests</a> <a href="https://t.co/XnNVQeWYbP">pic.twitter.com/XnNVQeWYbP</a></p>— Newsday (@Newsday) <a href="https://twitter.com/Newsday/status/1268651317796442120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Her mother also spoke to the outlet to explain her child's grasp of the situation.
"She understands the peaceful movement," Jackson said. "She doesn't understand why people vandalize people's property and things like that. I just have to explain to her that everyone is not peaceful. She understands that there are good cops and there are bad cops. We want everyone to become, just as one."
The Long Island area has seen thousands gathering to march in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, shutting down portions of major roads in Nassau County.
While Jackson has seen criticism about her daughter's age and involvement in the protests, she doesn't let it bother her.
"To the negative comments, God bless y'all. … I just hope that they can come to peace," she said.
And as for the impact that Rogers has already made, her mother is truly proud.
"Look what my daughter has done," Jackson said. "She has been heard."
