“When I saw Michael Brown’s body lying in the streets, I knew something was fundamentally and systematically wrong in this country,” said 18-year-old Clifton Kinnie, who has been profiled nationally for his organizational and community activism. The St. Louis native’s efforts have garnered the attention from civil rights enthusiasts around the country and resulted in him being the first young person to receive the Ambassador Andrew Young Leadership Award for Distinguished Leadership.
The Leadership Award, named for the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Atlanta mayor and Georgia Congressman, is given to exemplary people whose giving, work and leadership have impacted the world.
Young presented Kinnie with the prize on Jan. 13 at the National Youth Summit at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Kinnie was nominated for the award by Tony Neal, president/CEO of Educational Equity Consultants in St. Louis and a board member of The Ethics Project. The Ethics Project of St. Louis convened the National Youth Summit. It exists to “improve the well-being of our youth and strengthen our community by addressing the impact of crime, incarceration and injustice on children, families and the community as a whole.” Dr. Christi Giffin is the founder and president of The Ethics Project.
“I was so humbled to receive the award,” said Kinnie. “I have to use this platform for justice, to uplift young people, and there is no turning back.”
The activist is in his second semester as a freshman at Howard University, courtesy of a service scholarship, and is majoring in political science. He is also an intern at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. The Institute is an educational and policy studies organization that promotes leadership for those grappling with critical issues.
The days following Brown’s shooting death by former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, protests erupted in St. Louis and around the world.
“I felt angry, frustrated and sick and tired,” Kinnie said, who is also known on Twitter as @CliftonKinnie. “It’s scary to know that we live in a world where police are not held accountable, but other professions are. It made me want to fight back.”
“My fight started in the streets of Ferguson,” Kinnie added. “I became a leader in the Ferguson protest movement. When we stood up for ourselves in the streets of Ferguson, we got tear gassed and shot with rubber bullets.”
Then, adding to Kinnie’s fury was a remark made by a teacher at his high school.
“A teacher said they need to stop the looting and the uprising,” he remarked, “but I said that many young people were disenchanted. I don’t have to condone the violence to understand that a community is in pain, because there was a great injustice done.”
After the instructor’s remark, Kinnie contacted approximately 20 of his friends and told them to meet at his house that night for a rally. More than 50 young people showed up.
Kinnie founded Our Destiny Coalition STL in August 2014, which is a network of high school student activists. The coalition conducts community service, voter registration drives and protests in and outside of high schools against such issues as the school to prison pipeline.
“The police killed more than 1,000 people last year. The police are not supposed to occupy forces, they are supposed to protect and serve,” Kinnie said. “It’s the wrong idea that the answer for the black community is more police and prisons instead of education and business investments, which is what is available in the white community.”
“We have to rethink what constitutes safety in black communities in contrast to white communities, where there are better jobs, infrastructure and housing,” he added.
Kinnie’s activism, he said, is a legacy to his mother, who was a social worker.
The teen grew up in Spanish Lake, minutes away from Ferguson, and went to Hazelwood East High School for one year before transferring to the private Lutheran High School North. Kinnie graduated in May 2015 with a 3.5 grade point average.
Along the way, Kinnie had to adjust and deal with life altering factors with his parents. Kinnie’s father suffered a stroke and was moved to a nursing home, when he was a freshman in high school.
“I am the oldest son and one of eight children,” he said. “I had to grow up quick and become a man and mold myself in this misogynistic world.”
Kinnie’s mother, who was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2005, died in July 2014. But not before she went back to school to receive her associate’s degree in social work in 2012. Kinnie’s mother also raised all of her children to stick together and form a “chain.” She preached that when one link was weak, it impacted the whole “chain.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing now, if it wasn’t for the love and support of my siblings,” said Kinnie. “We love each other and stick together.”
What exactly he will be doing later in life, Kinnie said he doesn’t quite know. “I’m evolving as an organizer, activist and leader in the movement. But for now I’m focused on empowering youth, continuing to tell my story and letting young people know it is OK to tell their stories, and to fight for what is right.”
Protesting is not negative and protestors are not trouble makers, the teen emphasized.
“We don’t protest, because we don’t like America. We protest, because we love America, and we believe we can live in a country where opportunity is not by chance, choice, where you live or what you look like.”
“We protest, because we believe we can live in a nation that can do better for all its people,” Kinnie said. “We protest, because we believe in a world where police do not kill people.”
