Maplewood and South Orange have hosted a number of protests in the last year, but the “No Kings” rally scheduled for March 28 is going to be a bit different.
For this protest — which local progressive grassroots organization SOMA Action is coordinating with the national group Indivisible and thousands of No Kings protests nationwide — young voices are coming to the forefront.
“The CHS Students for Social Justice are proud to participate in No Kings Day, which will be the largest protest in American History,” said a group of Columbia High School student in a message to Village Green. “It is important to us that we let the adults in our lives and in our communities know that we are paying attention, and that we think deeply about how our government shapes our everyday lives. When those in power do not take the necessary steps to protect our freedoms, it becomes our job to step up. Obviously, that’s not how it should be. But as the Students for Social Justice, we will fight to uphold democracy now and standardize civic engagement among youth. Our goal is to ensure that we, as the youth of this nation, are afforded the privilege of stepping into a promising future.”
Members of CHS Students for Social Justice
“For the first time, we have young people on our planning committee,” said Amy Higer, a volunteer with SOMA Action. Higer reported that both the CHS Students for Justice are being joined by a group of college students — the Seton Hall Democrats.
Along with Democratic Congressional candidate Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), former NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin, and NJ Assemblyman Chigozie Onyema, the student groups will each have a representative speaking at the rally in front of Maplewood Town Hall, said Higer.
The event will run from 12 to 2 PM., with marchers meeting at Founders Park in South Orange at noon and walking to Maplewood Town Hall. Speeches will start at 1 p.m. at Town Hall. Organizers are encouraging participants to register to receive
notifications.
Higer is excited about the CHS and SHU students participating: “We’ve been trying to get more young people involved from the start, but it’s happening now.”
Salma Osman, president of the Seton Hall College Democrats, is excited as well.
“I learned early on that, though I could be disinterested in politics, politics would always be inextricably involved in my life,” wrote Osman in an email to Village Green. “Growing up in a Title I school district, I watched political decisions play out not in Washington, but in my hallways: in underfunded classrooms, in the food drives I led, and in the federal programs that helped families like mine build a better life.”
Seton Hall College Democrats
“Today, that same safety net is under direct attack,” Osman added. “SNAP benefits are being cut. Title I school funding hangs in the balance. The infrastructure that lifted families like mine is being systematically dismantled. And college students are not exempt, we are watching tuition protections erode, student loan relief reversed, and our futures mortgaged by an administration that governs by intimidation rather than by the people.”
Osman, who founded Seton Hall College Democrats “just last semester” as a freshman, says she is honored to be partnering with SOMA Action for the No Kings rally on March 28.
“This event is not only a recognition of the authoritarian threat this administration poses; it is a declaration that young people are not bystanders,” wrote Osman. “We are on the front lines. Youth voices are too often dismissed as uninformed or premature, but no one understands the consequences of these policy choices more intimately than the children who will inherit them. At the No Kings Rally, we are centering those voices, loudly and unapologetically.”
Osman invited students, young people, or “anyone who believes that democracy belongs to the people, not a king, to come stand with us. Join us. Join the community in making sure that our voices are heard and acknowledged.”
