While adults are busy arguing on Facebook or getting their daily propaganda from Fox News, one high school junior is taking an active role to stand up against injustice. For Derrick Brown, everyday is cause for protest, which is why this amazing young activist walks out of school every single day.
No matter what the issue of the day — Russia’s involvement in election tampering, Congress trying to regulate a woman’s reproductive rights, or Trump playing loose with the Twitter terms of service, Brown walks out of his school.
Brown has no problem bravely standing up to protest everything “the man” tries to force him to do. “They wanted me to learn about the Louisiana purchase or whatever, and I was like, nah,” he said about his brave stance and major blow to America’s system of land theft and colonization.
Look out Che Guevara, here comes Derrick Brown!
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Even when Brown is in school, he’s actively subverting the system by the most effective means available to a 17 year old in a private school. Whether he’s referencing a lyric from an Anti-Flag song about globalization or referencing a lyric from an Anti-Flag song about the military, Brown is always disrupting the firehose of propaganda aimed at him and his fellow students.
Brown waits until after shop class because he wants to see firsthand the damage America’s war machine has caused. According to Brown, “Our teacher Mr. Snead was in Vietnam and he tells all these crazy stories, and half the time we don’t do our projects. I’m pretty sure he killed people.”
“You must learn everything about an oppressive system if you seek to dismantle it.” That’s a direct quote of our interpretation of Brown’s intentions. Wow, what an inspiration!
And to add another layer of activism, Brown spends most of his time off campus smoking cigarettes in a complete “fuck you” to the laws of the land.
In addition to his great work, Brown maintains his humility. “I wouldn’t say my work is ‘great,’” he told the Hard Times white sitting in the school parking lot for 6 hours. “But I can say I’m doing more to subvert the system than any blogger.”
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Article by Seth Macy @sethmacy