I had first heard talk of the protest from my sister, a senior at McIntosh. Three days before the protest when we had gone to our golf cart at the end of the day, and she told me about some messages in a senior group chat. There had been talk about joining the more than 100 Georgia schools in a walk out to protest ICE. I was very interested.
When the @McIntoshAgainstIce Group-Me was opened, it was spammed constantly by trolls, interrupted by casual chat and overrun with questions so information for the walkout would get lost in translation. After sorting it all out, the organizers started rolling out information. Although there was much initial backlash and discourse about what participants would do and where we would go, it was decided that the walkout would be on Fri. Jan. 30 at the 1:05 passing period, anyone was welcome. The route on the paths would walk to the Walgreens and we would continue with our protest there.
Except for whispers of who would actually go through with walking out, the day of the walkout was normal. I continued through my first four periods until D study hall when it was time for the walkout to take place. The area in the lobby was complete chaos, everyone was pushing to move on to their next period and there were groups trailing out of the office to check out. I was able to find my friend, Violet Bine, and we made our way into the office where we waited. We stayed there until Assistant Principal Dan Lakly came to the group attempting to check out and told us to go to our fifth period until we were called down to the office. After much contemplation, Violet and I decided to oblige and go to our separate fifth periods where we patiently waited to get called.
I was called first and was able to check out easily. I walked out across the road in front of the school where many protesters were waiting for more people to check out so we could officially start. I found a different friend among the crowd and we started chanting with the group. As we were holding up our signs for the passing cars to see when I heard the news that they had stopped calling more people down to the office to get checked out. Regretfully, I had to continue without Violet.
Shortly after, we started our walk for those who could not walk for themselves.
As we made our way through the Peachtree paths we continued to chant, make noise, play music and ensure it was known why we were there. Throughout the walk police cars followed behind to make sure both we and other people stayed peaceful, but they eventually left us alone. We encountered many people who were recording, waving, honking and cheering positively as we passed by. There were also people who yelled at us, made rude gestures and shouted hateful things.
We continued to persist in our walk despite this because we believe it was right.
Once we reached our final destination we continued to be loud, be proud and make ourselves known. Outside of the Walgreens there is a large intersection which was perfect to be seen, we all stood in a large group to begin with but slowly feathered out. People began to cross the street to reach another area and I decided to join in because there was more space for everyone to get seen. Many by-passers continued to cheer, give thumbs up, honk and overall be very supporting. Still, a few others continued to give us backlash in the form of yelling and show rude hand gestures. All we did was cheer louder.
I saw so much passion from the other protesters who truly believed in what they were doing, it was amazing to see. With all the chanting and yelling with other people it was easy to keep spirits high. It was so much fun to be out there and to stand up with other people for what you believe in.
Despite the cold, I saw a community of people helping each other in ensuring everyone was safe and had enough to eat or drink. Midway through someone had bought snacks from the Walgreens to make sure everyone was well fed. When anybody needed to cross the street there was always someone there with them to make sure they got across safely.
As time went on we started to see school buses pass from the middle school and it was decided that we would chant “MHS against ICE.” We continued to get louder for the many buses of waving kids. When the buses from McIntosh came, we made it known that we were there and why by continuing to yell and hold up our signs so they could be seen clearly.
When things were coming to a close after about three hours everyone said their thanks, made sure everyone had a ride home and we all went our separate ways.
In the end, it was wonderful to see what a big impact a few people in a group chat could make. It was a wonderful experience of community, fun, passion and fighting for people who couldn’t fight for themselves. Participating in the protest was about more than just me and a few friends, but about making ourselves heard when we disagree with something that is happening within the world.
It’s more important now more than ever to speak your mind and make a change. I have hope that in the future this won’t be something that we need to do for everyone to be equal, but in the meantime there is always space for more to join us.
Opinions expressed in editorials are those of the writer(s). These views may not represent those of the adviser; of the Trail staff as a whole; of the Trail’s advertisers; of the administration, faculty or staff of McIntosh High School; of Fayette County Public Schools or of the FCBOE School Board members.
