Thousands of DC Students Walk Out of School to Protest Trump

By Kira Lerner, ThinkProgress

16 November 16

housands of students walked out of school in the nation’s capital Tuesday afternoon, declaring that young people will not stand for president-elect Donald Trump’s racism, sexism, and bigotry.

According to one student organizer, roughly 6,000 people marched for miles around downtown Washington, from the monuments and U.S. Capitol, past Trump’s Pennsylvania Avenue hotel, to the White House. Together they chanted that Trump is “not my president” and “black lives matter.”

Grace Dolan-Sandrino, a 16-year-old student at Duke Ellington School of the Arts who also runs a protest group called Youth Blackout DC, said she wants Trump and his administration to know that young people will hold them accountable for all of their actions.

“We are trying to get our voices heard,” she said. “We were not able to vote. We do not want Trump, and we’re letting him know that we’re here and we’re going to be loud for the rest of his four year administration.”

Many students from D.C. and the surrounding area said that as women, people of color, or members of the LGBTQ community, they will do all they can to make sure Trump does not abuse his power.

“The lives of young, black children matter in America, now more than ever, and we’re not going to let him get away with whatever he wants,” Dolan-Sandrino said.