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17-year-old Virginia Beach senior organizes peaceful protest

  • Tamara Scott

    • VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Protests continue in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis Police.

    Some leading the charge, are not even old enough to vote yet.


    A couple of hundred people attended the march on Saturday lead by a 17-year-old who said he is tired of seeing what is happening in the world — and wants to make a difference.

    When Jordan Lucas was nine, he said he remembers hearing about Trayvon Martin’s death.

    “In 2012, when Trayvon Martin got killed, that ate me up. I saw my brothers; I saw me in Trayvon Martin,” he said.

    Nearly a decade later, and again he feels like George Floyd’s death was personal.

    Lucas says he is ready to be a part of the change.

    “I’ve been going to a couple protests, but I’ve just been waiting and waiting and I was just like, ‘why wait?’ Why not bring this upon myself and my family to help bring change about in this world,” he said.

    That is what he did. The rising senior at Bayside Highschool gathered his friends, school leaders, coworkers, and others in the community to lead a protest that was not only peaceful — but also impactful.

    “We have to come together, so that these boys, so their skin won’t be used as a weapon. They have every right and every freedom to love their life like everybody else,” said Tara Banks, Lucas’ mom.

    Both his mother and father say they are impressed and proud.

    “I think the change is now, really. These kids are on fire … It’s different, it feels different … Things will change,” she added.

    “He’s in the Science and Medicine Academy at Bayside. He wanted to be a doctor but now he said — ‘dad, I might be a lawyer for civil rights,'” explained his father Gregory Banks.

    You could say he has big plans. 

    “I want to make a change in Virginia Beach first, then Virginia, then the world,” he said.

    Those who are close to him believe he is telling the truth.

    “This is his first one, but I don’t think it will be his last one,” said his father.

    Jordan Lucas said he saw his future, and he saw his peer’s future. He wants to secure them because he believes it is his generation that can make the changes to reality, not just by marches, but also by pushing for change at the local, state, and federal levels.

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