After Daunte Wright, I was like, ‘Really? It hasn’t even been a year since George Floyd died,’ ” Williams said. “I was just like, we need to do something. So I started brainstorming, getting ideas from other students, and I came about a walkout. That’s one way we can get our voices heard.”

Williams, 17, is a senior at Tartan High School in Oakdale. As she was coordinating plans with other students for her school’s walkout, she learned that high schoolers in other parts of the state were doing the same. 

By the time Monday had rolled around, students in dozens of Minnesota schools — from Minneapolis and St. Louis Park to Roseville, Osseo, St. Peter, Sartell and St. Cloud — had signed on to lead marches and rallies to protest racism. They organized on social media.