Project Us Blog

I. Can’t. Breathe. May 25th — a world changed overnight. People filled with outrage and sorrow took to the streets, protesting and crying out for justice. May 30th — something began to stir in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And overnight, 16 year old Olivia Moore became the face of Winston’s movement.

There are people who say teenagers can’t make a real difference. There are people who say teenagers don’t care about anything except music, movies, and social media. They say we should “wait until we get into the real world.” Well, we’re in the real world. We’re here, and we care. Young activist Olivia Moore is leading this generation of eager justice-fighters in Winston-Salem.

May 30th — an Instagram post from a new account, “Winston4Peace,” began to go viral. In just 24 hours, Olivia Moore had organized one of the first protests in Winston-Salem, promising to unite the cause of justice and the promotion of peace.

“24 hours before the protest started, ... my phone screen time was 18 hours 31 minutes for that day. I didn’t eat for 4 days. I didn’t sleep for 3 days between that first day and the days after because I was on my phone the whole day calling Winston-Salem influencers, trying to get them to promote the protest.”

May 31st — over 200 people flooded Bailey Park in downtown Winston-Salem to join Olivia Moore in her fight for justice. If you didn’t know Olivia Moore’s name before, you do now. You need to know now.

Olivia Moore became an activist overnight. “I honestly didn’t know I was an activist until I watched the news and they called me a ‘community activist.’ I didn’t see that coming. I was just on my phone for hours like a normal teenager.”

However, Olivia’s newfound definition as an activist hasn’t come without a price. Choosing to stand up for one’s beliefs in the face of opposition nearly always brings adversity.

“There were the challenges of being overwhelmed and getting a lot of attention because I’m not a big attention person. There were threats, internal challenges, people being skeptical of us and the movement. I’ve gotten it all.”

But Olivia hasn’t let that shake her and definitely hasn’t let that stop her. While there have been trials, Olivia describes her favorite parts of running Winston4Peace, saying, “I had never seen the community come together like that in my entire life. Just seeing the community coming together and wanting to support Winston4Peace, and me being honestly unsuspecting. Seeing engagement from the community and seeing unity was the most satisfying and enjoyable thing about it.” In the face of obstacles, Olivia persists.

Olivia Moore is an inspiration and a role model for Winston-Salem youth hungry for justice. If you want to get involved, Olivia has some advice.

“Despite what people say about how social media does nothing, I’ve signed so many petitions I found out about through social media. I’ve donated to causes I wouldn’t have known about without social media. Honestly, just sharing and educating yourself is one of the best things you can do.”

It’s okay to start small. Change starts with you. Change starts when you commit yourself to learning more every day and sharing what you’ve learned with others. Winston4Peace is here to help you on that journey.

And Olivia’s not stopping there. In the future, she says, “I want to see Winston4Peace be a platform everyone knows about, not for the publicity, but so everyone comes together to make real change in Winston-Salem. If we can be well known and start seeing a lot of people, we can change real policy. That would be the main goal- to have influence. So when the City Council and the mayor sees Winston4Peace coming, they know it’s serious.”

Winston4Peace is making noise. With a passion for policy change, but a commitment to peace, Olivia and Winston4Peace have gone to work. “I’m seeing the community be unified and seeing that it’s not that hard to make change. It’s not time consuming to post on social media. It’s fun to sit down with someone in a meeting and talk to people about how to make real change. I enjoy it a lot.”

Thank you for stepping up and leading, Olivia. You’re an inspiration.

Follow @winston4peace to get involved and stay updated with Olivia's mission!