Young Activists Challenge NAACP President At 'Ferguson October' Event

Young 'Ferguson October' Activists Challenge NAACP President

The “Ferguson October” movement took a surprising turn on Sunday when a group of young protesters challenged NAACP president Cornell William Brooks and religious leaders at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis.

In a conversation with HuffPost Live, activist and journalist Rosa Clemente recounted the event and described an emerging generational split among the demonstrators.

“Last night there was a huge gathering of over 3,000 people, and at some point the young people stood up in the audience turned their backs on the president of the NAACP and a lot of the clergy and started chanting and getting very upset because they felt they weren’t being heard,” Clemente said.

While Clemente acknowledged the “intergenerational work” occurring within the movement, last night’s powerful rejection symbolized the way in which young demonstrators are holding their leaders accountable for stagnant progress.

“It literally changed the nature of a gathering that seemed to be disconnected from the lived reality of what these young people are facing,” she said. “And when they took that space over ... they did the work. And now the older generation’s work is now to repent for having let down this generation.”

Catch the full HuffPost Live conversation about the latest from #FergusonOctober here.

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