A 7-year-old girl appeared marching along with protesters during the Black Lives Matter protest in Merrick on Wednesday. She has now gained fame thanks to a video that has received more than 20 million views on Twitter.
Two videos of Wynta-Amor Rogers have gone viral on social media. It was Rogers' fierce expressions on her cherubic face that won millions of hearts the world over when she was captured on camera chanting "No justice, no peace."
The Little Star Seeks Justice
As per the mother of this 7-year-old protester, Rogers wanted to attend the protest march, which was organized in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota by a white police officer. "I want everyone to get together, and make sure a big community comes in," Roger said.
Her family lives in Uniondale on Long Island. Along with the family members, Rogers attended Wednesday night's march in Merrick, an event marred by controversy as counter-protesters tried to stop the peaceful demonstration, while opponents were heard saying "police lives matter."
After becoming an overnight sensation following the first protest march, Rogers attended a second rally on Thursday in New York City. Rogers said that she wants to prompt change just like Martin Luther King Jr.
"I just want everybody to be respectful, grateful, and never let people down. If anybody says you're not good, don't let them (make) you think you're bad," she said.
Twitter user Abdul Qiyam Muhammad, who is an award-winning journalist, said: "Look at her shirt... I was watching the morning news and saw video footage of this precious 7-year old Black child Wynta-Amor Rogers, whom they reported has gone viral from participating in the marches in New York. Her voice and words made me teary-eyed."
No Justice, No Peace
While raising up her arms and then bringing them together in front of her, she told Newsday: "I just want everybody to get along. I want us to be a good New York community ... If we get through with this, we can fight this, you know? And we can come into a big group in one piece — just one piece."
Rogers explained that she joined the mass protest movement as she wants "black people and white people" to be together without any racial barriers.
Her mother, Lakyia Jackson, revealed that Rogers attends the Roosevelt Children's Academy. Rogers understands the reason why the protesters dropped on their knee was that the police killed George Floyd, the mother said. "She understands that there are good cops and there are bad cops," she added.
Even though to many people 7-year-old Rogers is too young to understand and participate in such protest movements, her mother disagreed. "The negativity doesn't bother me because at the end of the day this is what's going on and this is our future, so we have to let our future see what's going on also," she said. "If not, they're gonna see it on their own the hard way, so it's not a problem," she added, reported NBC.
