As USA Today reported , over 1,280 locations throughout the United States have had at least some degree of protesting over the last two-and-a-half-weeks.
With that in mind, chances are good that a Black Lives Matter protest has also taken place near you. And even if you’re in a small community of only a few thousand, it’s entirely possible that someone has stood alone in it to affirm the sanctity of black lives in the face of systemic racism and police brutality.
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But while the idea of a lone protester is not a new phenomenon even in the most recent context, you’re not likely to find one younger than the boy we’ll be discussing today.
Information about the ongoing protests in the U.S. and around the world is rapidly changing and Diply is committed to providing the most recent data as it becomes available. Some of the information in this story may have changed since publication, and we encourage readers to follow their local trusted news outlet(s) to stay up to date on the latest information surrounding these events.
In one Chicago suburb, a group of neighbors got the idea to draw hearts in their driveways as a show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
As Katya Kelley told Good Morning America, her nine-year-old son Aiden took to that idea like a duck to water and went outside with a bucket of chalk.
He didn’t just stop at a simple heart, though. Soon, the sidewalk outside the house was adorned with an array of hearts, flags, and joinging hands.
As Kelley said , “He was outside doing this all Saturday. Our neighborhood is really tight and he was trying to encourage people that were just driving by.”
Kelley also said that some of these neighbors would stop and contribute some drawings of their own, while others would tell him to keep up the good work.
As Aiden said, “There’s been a lot of crazy things happening for the past few days and I wanted to make people feel happy.”
Later on, Aiden decided to make his own protest sign and walk around the drawings.
This one-kid protest was photographed by a neighbor, who attracted over 85,000 retweets 683,000 likes by the time of this writing when they tweeted it out.
Aiden’s passion led Kelley to consider taking her son to a Chicago protest, but decided against that due to the risk of unrest. Nonetheless, she’s been committed to teaching Aiden about the protesters’ messaging and showing him footage of peaceful demonstrations.
Aiden’s actions have received a lot of support online, but they’ve also influenced his classmates at the Andrew Jackson Language Academy.
As Good Morning America reported, they’ve apparently been inspired to make some chalk drawings of their own after hearing about Aiden’s display during a virtual class on Monday.
As Aiden said, “People said they appreciated my support for love and kindness.”
