Culver City Students Walk Out for their Beliefs

On Tuesday November 4th, Culver City High School students organized a walkout to protest the Trump administration and recent I.C.E. raids.

Echoing a similar Culver City demonstration held in February of this year, this walkout was organized via Instagram through the account “@culver_wo.” In association with organizers Emma Leon-Ferrero and Mario Reyes, the account created five posts that were liked and reposted, spreading word of the protest and garnering hundreds of participants. “THIS IS YOUR WAY OF VOTING,” stated one post, encouraging students to take action, while another stated the protest’s main objectives: to “protest against ICE and all ICE raids”, oppose “any action taken to discriminate against our immigrant communities” and demand the “[funding] of our schools.”

The walkout resulted in hundreds of students leaving during their lunch period to parade with signs and chants towards their gathering point: Veterans Memorial Park, a local voting site for Prop 50 that day, which student protesters urged passerbyers to support. Chaperoned by school administrators, students chanted slogans such as “Education, not deportation,” while others held up hand-made posters, notebook pages, and even Chromebooks with phrases like “I prefer my ice crushed” and “No one is illegal on stolen land.”

The large crowd gathered at the corner of Culver and Overland, where they directed their chants towards passing traffic. Students gathered the attention of passing cars, garnering many encouraging honks but also occasional expressions of disapproval through vulgar language and gestures. After roughly half an hour, the group began to dispers–some students walking home, others remaining at the corner, and the rest gathering by the Veterans Memorial Fountain to deliver and listen to speeches. Subject matter included personal anecdotes and sentiments revolving around the walkout’s themes of the immigrant experience and Trump’s presidency.

Once the last speech concluded, students made their way home, back to school, or to their extra curricular commitments and faced no repercussions for their participation.

Check out “@culver_wo” on Instagram for additional pictures from the walkout.