‘The movement is you all’: Spokane NAACP president draws parallels between civil rights activists, students of today

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was in his mid-20s when he rose to prominence as the father of the American Civil Rights Movement.

The late U.S. Rep John Lewis was just 21 years old when he became one of the 13 original Freedom Riders with his fellow college students. Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, the founders of the Black Panther Party, were 29 and 24, respectively, when they penned the party’s guiding documents.

Young adults were at the forefront of bringing about change then, and they still are today, Spokane NAACP President Lisa Gardner told a group of Spokane Falls Community College students last week.

“The movement is you all,” Gardner said. “It’s the teenagers, it’s the young adults. It’s those who see that there’s social inaccuracies that need to be corrected and social injustices.”

Wednesday, Gardner delved into the Civil Rights Movement, her own experiences growing up in Spokane and a crash course in advocacy at the annual MLK Day celebration hosted by the college’s Black Student Union. It was Gardner’s second appearance at the event in as many years since rising to the top of the local NAACP chapter in December 2023.

“It’s been a long year, and it’s been an impactful year in the community, and for me as well, because I’ve seen the good and the bad of Spokane,” Gardner said. “But it reinforces my work with the NAACP, it reinforces my love for Spokane.”

The presentation was part of Gardner’s ongoing goal to connect with younger generations, she told The Spokesman-Review prior to being sworn in as president of the local NAACP chapter.

Gardner’s ties to the organization stretch back to her childhood, when she would attend meetings with her grandmother Sarah Gardner, an activist and well-known business owner in Spokane’s Black community until her murder in 1987.

Sarah Gardner owned a salon in East Central Spokane and taught cosmetology at Spokane Community College, while also serving on the board and as a youth director for the NAACP. She was found stabbed more than 50 times in her salon shortly after a failed run for Spokane City Council.

The Spokane Police Department considers the case closed, despite it never being solved.

While Gardner did not discuss her grandmother, her death and the shock waves it sent throughout the Northwest, she did note the oppression, imprisonment and violence the activists of the Civil Rights Movement were often met with.

Lewis was arrested at 20 years old for participating in a sit-in at the Woolworth’s diner in Nashville with students from the historically Black North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Gardner said.

King was assassinated at 39.

“We do everything that we do for you to make it better, to make it equitable, so that we’re not going through the BS that we’ve gone through in the past,” Gardner said.

As she worked through a slideshow displaying prominent figures of the Civil Rights Movement, Gardner made a point of drawing attention to their youth. It was college students and young adult who organized the Freedom Rides, sit-ins and social welfare programs of the ’50s and ’60s, she noted.

As she neared the end of her slides, she arrived at one displaying photos of the Black Lives Matter protests that broke out after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in 2020.

“It’s showing you that the people who are behind the movements, the people who are on the front lines, it’s you all, it’s our youth,” Gardner said. “They’re the ones who are fighting for what’s right.”

Activism is a person who brings about political or social change, but what the figures of the yesteryear were fighting for was not political, Gardner argued. It was made out to be political, because that’s what politicians do, she said.

“Don’t lose sight,” Gardner said. “… It’s not about politics. It’s about doing what’s right. It’s about social change. When we’re all free, looking at systemic challenges to make a greater impact.”

Gardner closed by imploring the attendees to use their energy and passion of youth to make a difference in the world, and let them know the NAACP and their peer organizations are ready to support them in those efforts.

Whether it’s researching issues affecting their community, organizing, joining an advocacy organization or exercising the right to vote, there is myriad ways to address the inequalities in the U.S., Gardner said.

“Pretty soon here I’m going to put down the mic, not just literally,” Gardner said. “But when it’s my time to be done with advocating and doing NAACP, it’s one of you all who need to pick up the mic and continue, because there’s not a free democracy where we’re really free. Because, again, we’re still fighting for rights.”

Spokane Falls students Melissa Nijimbere, Jayla Knights and Rob Lopez answered in unison with “empowered” when asked how they felt following the event.

Nijimbere, 20, is the president of the college’s Black Student Union, and said the event’s “Building Community” theme is part of their and fellow student organizations’ ongoing work to bring members of their diverse campus together.

Knights, 18, stressed that work is particularly significant at a community college, where there tends to be more students of color, first-generation students and wide age ranges between classmates, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.

“The mix of different cultures and interacting with different people of a different age that come from different backgrounds, it’s very interesting conversations and stuff like that,” Knights said. “And you learn a lot more from the people around you.”

Lopez, 23, agreed, saying he enjoys that he can relate to his classmates over common experiences or issues they believe need addressing, and share perspectives with each other they may not otherwise have been aware of.

Lopez shared that he ran into some trouble with the law as a teenager, and is now studying criminal justice to one day get involved with reform and rehabilitation programs for youth offenders. He wants to be a positive example, but he’s had doubts about whether he’ll be able to achieve his goal.

He said Gardner’s remarks left him feeling like that dream could be a reality and reignited his passion to strive toward it.

“I can do that,” Lopez said. “These figures launched whole movements they’re famous for, and I just want to be able to help some people. I can really do that. I got to keep this going. This is what I want to do. This is what I’m gonna do.”

The holiday honoring King’s life and legacy provides an opportunity to really appreciate his significance, Njimbere said, which is impactful for younger generations.

She expects Gardner’s remarks and the Spokane celebrations planned for Monday to bring a renewed sense of energy to the organization and their peers in the multicultural resource center.

“He fought for justice and equality, not just for one person or community, but for everybody,” Njimbere said. “No matter what background, where you come from, he thought that it was important for you to be equal.”