Not An Activist And Not A Leader – Livia Rose Johnson Talks About Engaging Gen Z In Fight For Justice

Not An Activist And Not A Leader – Livia Rose Johnson Talks About Engaging Gen Z In Fight For Justice

Warriors in the Garden's Liva Rose Johnson supporting other protesters during March for Black Womxn ... [+] on July 26, 2020, in New York's Times Square.





Aleksandra Michalska





Livia Rose Johnson doesn't want to be called an activist. 



In late May, she found herself disappointed with the lack of energy at a protest.



"So I just came to the front and started screaming at the top of my lungs,“ says the 20-year-old Brooklyn's Crown Heights native.



Another protester, Joseph Martinez, saw her enthusiasm, and asked if she wanted to "take that march somewhere else.“ 



"And I was, like, yeah, sure,“ she responded. "I mean, I guess.“



They led 15,000 people from 14th Street to Trump Tower at East 57th and 5th Avenue, and then to Barclays Center in Brooklyn. 





Later that night, Joseph messaged Livia asking whether she wanted to create a group chat, include other organizers, and coordinate future marches. They called themselves Warriors in the Garden. 



"It was a joke,“ Livia says. "Like a spy, you know, like how spies have codenames.“



Thirty thousand people came to their first march in early June. And Livia's life has been going "100 miles per