Chicago, IL – A few weeks ago, during lunch, I asked an eighth-grade student if he had ever been to a protest. He said yes and described one of the “teen takeovers” as a protest against the way police treat him and his peers. I rarely hear people say a positive word about those gatherings, and that was the only time I have heard one get called a protest. That led to a conversation about racist police harassment, the variety of motivations of the children attending the “takeovers,” and systemic neglect of Black communities.