Ferguson-era activists favored improvised leaderless actions over permitted marches

Evidence

More than a thousand people staged an improvised sit-in on campus. This was not Sharpton’s traditional march with its government permits and his $20,000 Porta-Potties. It was creative civil disobedience, which drew on the unique skill sets of this generation of activists. Leaders emerged in the moment. As Brittany put it, “Some of the most successful actions have been the ones that have been last-minute that have been planned by brilliant young people out there in the street, figuring out how to organize and keeping people together.” — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 592

Categorization

• XREF: The explicit contrast with Sharpton’s traditional march connects to the reader’s prior interest in how protest generations define legitimacy differently from legacy civil-rights leadership.