Johnetta Elzie facts for kids

Johnetta "Netta" Elzie, born on April 16, 1989, is an important American civil rights activist. She helps lead a group called We The Protesters. She also works with fellow activist DeRay Mckesson to edit a newsletter. This newsletter, called This Is the Movement, shares news about the Ferguson protests.

Early Life and Education

Netta Elzie grew up in North County St. Louis. Her mother owned a hair salon there. Netta went to a private school called Our Lady of Good Counsel. Often, she was the only Black student in her class. Later, she studied journalism in college. She attended Southeast Missouri State.

Becoming a Civil Rights Activist

Elzie became involved in activism in 2014. This happened after a major event in Ferguson, Missouri. On August 9, 2014, she learned about the event through Twitter. She found out that a young man's body was left in the street. This was close to her childhood home.

Elzie was also dealing with the recent death of her own mother. She drove to the site of the event. There, she began sharing what she saw on Twitter. She quickly became involved in the protests. She helped organize volunteers and donations. She also kept documenting what was happening.

A reporter named Wesley Lowery wrote a book about the protests. In his book, They Can't Kill Us All, he called Elzie "the most prominent of the citizen journalists." This means she was one of the most important regular people sharing the story of the Ferguson protests.

Key Activism Projects

Elzie has been very active in protests. These include events in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland. She worked with DeRay Mckesson and a data scientist named Samuel Sinyangwe. Together, they created "Mapping Police Violence." This project collected information about people killed by police in 2014.

Recognized for Her Work

Many important news groups have recognized Elzie. The Los Angeles Times named her one of "The new civil rights leaders." They called her an "emerging voice in the 21st century." The New York Times also wrote about Elzie and McKesson. They said these two leaders built "the nation's first 21st-century civil rights movement." In January 2015, The Atlantic magazine named her a leader of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Elzie uses social media like Twitter to share her messages. She has also worked as a field organizer for Amnesty International. This group works to protect human rights around the world. She has also volunteered with a girls' group in St. Louis called the Sophia Project.

Awards and Honors

In 2015, Elzie and McKesson received an award. It was the Howard Zinn Freedom to Write Award. This award came from the New England branch of PEN. They earned it for their important activism.

They were also named among the "World’s Greatest Leaders" in 2015. This list was created by Fortune magazine. They were two of 53 people on this special list.

See also

• Ferguson unrest
• 2015 Baltimore protests
• Black Lives Matter Movement