A Walkout to Free America

By Noah Martinez, Giavanna Deperio, Sydney Walker Freeman, Leah Kim

After the 6th period bell on January 20th, approximately 200 students walked off campus with signs, speakers, national flags, and megaphones for the student organized “Free America” walkout, an event hosted by over 91 different organizations at different locations nationwide.

Discontent with the American government has been brewing among Logan students for quite some time. Disputes over issues of ICE, border patrol, Palestine, and concerns of fascism in America boiled over on Tuesday.

“I am here in solidarity with the beautiful immigrants of the country, and the citizens of the United States, and the students of James Logan,” protest organizer and Senior, Bella Faria, said.

An email from Vice Principal, Ms. Elbert, was sent out the morning of the walkout, stating “students absent from class without being excused will be marked as cutting class.” However, this warning was not enough for some students. Even students who don’t usually participate in activism on campus decided to attend the protest. 

“I personally am a student that never really skips class,” Sophie Paige Javier, a junior, said. “I think that people like me who never really come out here, it says so much for us to be out here.”

And that is a larger reflection on civic engagement among students. There have been occurrences  in not only the United States, but around the world that are motivating students to protest. 

“It’s raising student activism,” Faria said. “If you’ve seen Iran, there’s students everywhere. People are up protesting, the cities are on fire. It’s honestly inspiring us. It was one of the events that actually led me to come up the idea of the walkout today.”

Also attending the protest as supervisors, James Logan Principal Ron Polk and Superintendent John Thompson stood watching from the sidewalk as students chanted from all four corners of the intersection. When asked about the impact of current events on district policy, 

Superintendent Thompson talked about developing policies combatting potential immigration officer activity and, “…developing protocols to make sure our families and students and staff members know what to do and know what their rights are.”

The students who came out highlighted a larger awareness of student unrest and desire for change. Freshman, Dominic Kootz, put it best, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”