In the past, philanthropically inclined children used their birthday parties to make cards for boys and girls in hospitals or gather gifts for poor children. Now, the parties are becoming protests.
A 7-year-old girl from Maryland celebrated her birthday last weekend by marching by the White House with about 100 peers and parents, each protesting their own concern. The first grader, Kiyoko Merolli, held a sign that read, “Time’s up for the bad stuff.” Others carried signs proclaiming, “Be nice to people in the world” and “5 hours of recess for the rest of the year!” One more political message offered, “Batman 2020.”
Kiyoko’s protest party was originally supposed to be a rally for impeachment, her parents said. She had suggested, “We could say things like, ‘Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Donald Trump has got to go!’” according to the Washington Post. But since Kiyoko’s mother is a federal worker, she convinced Kiyoko to make the message less partisan.
So instead, the protest was named “Children’s First Amendment demonstration to promote kindness and care.” Complete with pink pussy-cat hats and chanting, it had all the markings of one of D.C.’s frequent marches. Its participants were just a bit younger.
Kiyoko caught the protest bug last year, when she participated in her first one: the anti-gun violence, student-led March for Our Lives.
For her own protest, she invited Kate Stewart, the mayor of her hometown, to speak. “Today, we are calling upon the words of Angela Davis and saying we are going to change the things we cannot accept,” Stewart said before the march. “Let’s think about the world we are creating.”
Kiyoko may have wanted to create a world that leads to impeachment, but her message ended up becoming the simple directive on her T-shirt: “Be kind.” But even that is political, according to some.
At the People’s Choice Awards last weekend, singer P!nk accepted her award with the words: “I don’t care about your politics, I care about your kids. I care about decency and humanity and kindness. Kindness today is an act of rebellion.”
This sentiment could be one reason why Kiyoko’s protest party gathered so many participants. If kindness is seen as an act of political dissent, then a march in its honor makes sense.
