人兽性交

Jeremiah Treece, 17, a senior at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery, Alabama, is petitioning the city to change its flag, which features Confederate iconography. Here, he explains the flag鈥檚 history and why it鈥檚 time for Montgomery, as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, to leave this symbol of division in the past. (Credit: Hillary Hudson)

Jeremiah Treece was filled with pride after he was chosen along with other youth leaders to attend City Council meetings in Montgomery, Alabama, and learn how to craft legislation. It was the latest step on a path of achievement the teenager had embarked on years earlier, following a deeply personal encounter with injustice that sparked his interest in public service and politics.

But soon after Treece, now 17, settled into the council chamber last spring to observe his first meeting, his pride turned to dismay. There on the dais 鈥� behind the first Black mayor of the Black-majority city known as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement 鈥� was a flag thick with Confederate symbolism.

It wasn鈥檛 a flag that Treece had noticed before. He discovered, though, that it has been the standard of his city since 1952, when the city was seething with racial tensions that three years later spurred the historic .

Like other such standards embraced throughout the South for decades after the Civil War, the flag is unmistakable in its meaning. One half the gray of Confederate army uniforms and one half red for the state of Alabama, it is bisected with seven white stars on a blue background running diagonally from top to bottom. According to an explanatory plaque posted in City Hall by the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, the stars symbolize the seven founding states of the Confederacy, 鈥渨reathed in glory and honor鈥� by a gold laurel superimposed above them.

Now Treece, a senior at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School, is leading a movement to retire the flag he says demonstrates not glory and honor, but hatred. An online petition he posted Sept. 15, has garnered nearly 1,400 signatures to date.

This week, Treece took his campaign to change the flag to the Montgomery City Council, proposing at a work session that the city sponsor a competition for high school students to come up with a new design for the city鈥檚 standard. The council appears inclined to consider the idea, moving after Treece鈥檚 presentation to take it up in committee for possible action by the full body.

Gesturing at the flag in the council chambers as he spoke, Treece, who is Black, said, 鈥淟ooking at that flag serves as a constant reminder not just of 鈥� divisions, but of a time when people like me simply weren鈥檛 wanted here.鈥�

Jeremiah Treece, a senior at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery, Alabama, addresses the City Council during a council work session on Oct. 15, 2024. Treece started a petition to change the city's flag, which features Confederate symbols.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which works with grassroots activists to remove Confederate monuments, flags and other symbols, has not been directly involved in Treece鈥檚 fight. But the flag is on the 人兽性交鈥檚 list of more than 2,000 symbols in public spaces that promote the narrative casting the Confederacy and its cause as noble and that serve as reminders of the enduring myth of white supremacy.

鈥淗ere you see a student taking history into his own hands, saying white supremacy and inequality is not what my city is about, reclaiming true American history and educating himself and his peers through his work about the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the symbol of the Confederate flag and the true meaning of the Civil War,鈥� said Rivka Maizlish, senior research analyst at the 人兽性交鈥檚 Intelligence Project.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 great to see, especially because there is an assault on teaching true history and on public education.鈥�

鈥楽ymbols matter鈥�

Every Sunday since he created the petition, Treece has been speaking at one Black church in Montgomery after another 鈥� rising at the invitation of church leaders to explain what the petition is about, then passing out leaflets and tacking up posters he designed himself with a QR code that links to the online petition.

He also links to the petition on his social media accounts. In late September, after , 72 people signed in a single day. Emboldened, Treece upped his goal from 1,000 to 5,000 signatures and began crafting the formal proposal to the City Council to replace the flag.

The one-student movement is gaining momentum. Even before the newspaper article came out, Treece had the support and encouragement of city officials, who told him they had hoped to retire the flag earlier but had shelved the idea. A state representative who has served as a mentor to Treece is cheering him on. And since the petition has gained traction, he has earned the public support of Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed.

鈥淪ymbols matter,鈥� Reed said in a statement to the 人兽性交. 鈥淭hey shape how we see ourselves and how others see us. But it鈥檚 not enough to simply talk about the importance of symbols 鈥� we must be willing to back that up with action. When a symbol no longer aligns with our values and vision for the future, we have a responsibility to acknowledge that and invite the community to help us make it right.

鈥淢ontgomery is at a pivotal moment, and we, as a city, need to decide what kind of community we want to build for our children, grandchildren and generations to come. This decision can鈥檛 just rest with the City Council or elected officials; it鈥檚 a choice we all must make together. If a state like Mississippi can take bold steps to change their flag, then surely Montgomery can listen to our young people 鈥� like the local high school students who鈥檝e called for us to reevaluate our city flag 鈥� and be open to a conversation about what truly represents who we are today and who we want to be in the future.鈥�

The justice system

It is not often that a teenager takes up a cause and generates so much momentum in such a short time. But Jeremiah Treece is no ordinary teenager.

He was just 10 when his second cousin, , 35, was shot and killed in 2017 by a state trooper in Columbus, Georgia. A police investigation found that Lykes had fled his car when he was stopped at a driving-under-the-influence checkpoint and cleared the trooper of wrongdoing. But Lykes鈥� mother has been seeking to have the case reopened ever since, and Treece says his takeaway from the searing experience of the man who was like an uncle to him shaped his passion for the political and legal world and his drive to fight for change.

鈥淗aving something like that happen in your family, you get to really see how the justice system sometimes doesn鈥檛 work in your favor,鈥� Treece said. 鈥淵ou get to see how it doesn鈥檛 work for African Americans. When I write these proposals and these ordinances or these bills, when I do the youth legislative program, a lot of those bills are to somehow help with civil rights, or just rights in general. A lot of the things I do are dedicated to him.鈥�

That sense of mission carried Treece through hard times. In middle school, always aware that his mother struggled to pay the bills despite her administrative job for the state parole board, he started a business printing shirts and other custom items. He called it JAYFYE Apparel 鈥� his nickname plus F-Y-E, for 鈥淔resh Young Entrepreneur.鈥� With the help of his mother and grandmother, the business grew, and soon Treece was making enough money to help his mom buy groceries.

A few years ago, Treece was chosen by Alabama state Rep. Phillip Ensler to go to Washington, D.C., to meet with government officials 鈥� part of a program Ensler runs for 11^th graders. Treece was in the ninth grade.

鈥淗e displayed such remarkable maturity and just had this strong interest in wanting to go on the trip,鈥� Ensler said. 鈥淪o, he stood out, you know, even just a few years ago, for his interest in social justice issues and in current events.

鈥淚鈥檓 not surprised, but really glad and proud that he鈥檚 now advocating and taking this action in Montgomery. And it鈥檚 exciting, because for all the adults who are making decisions 鈥� are weighing in on things, just to have a young person speak up and to take that initiative is really inspirational. I fully support what he鈥檚 doing, and I hope that the city follows through on his ask and makes that change.鈥�

鈥楨xceptional young man鈥�

It was on the trip to Washington that Treece got a shattering call that eventually firmed his sense of mission. His mother, nearing the end of a difficult pregnancy, had suffered a heart attack. Rushed to the hospital, she had an emergency cesarean section while doctors fought to save her life. There was more trauma to come. The baby, Treece鈥檚 younger brother, was born with , a rare birth defect. While his mother fought to hang on, the baby was airlifted to a hospital in another city.

Suddenly, Treece was shuttling back and forth between hospital and school, and his little business took on outsized importance for the struggling family. With no mortgage to pay and with the help of his grandmother, Treece and his mother were able to get back on their feet while she regained her health. A series of surgeries made it possible for his little brother to live a normal life.

鈥淢y ninth-grade year will probably always be one of the craziest years of my life,鈥� Treece said. 鈥淏ecause, of course, I would never think 鈥� I don鈥檛 think anybody would think 鈥� anything like that would happen. But it made me more aware of life in general, just the fact that you can鈥檛 wait to try to do things. You have to go ahead and when you see stuff, take action.鈥�

These days, Treece straddles the social poles of high school with uncommon finesse. He dyes his hair bright blue, enjoys dressing flamboyantly and calls himself a 鈥渢heater kid,鈥� but he is equally comfortable in a dark suit and tie. He is the president of his senior class, 2024 chief justice of the Alabama YMCA Youth Legislature, a participant in citywide mock trial competitions and an intern in the Montgomery public defender鈥檚 office. He is also a designer and model for a school club called the Style Agency.

Cory Creel, a teacher in the legal services department of Treece鈥檚 high school who runs the program that brought Treece to City Hall, was instrumental in encouraging him to take on the flag fight.

鈥淗e is an exceptional young man, gifted,鈥� Creel said. 鈥淗e had already made a name for himself before he came into my program, and he has lived up to that reputation. He is just moved by justice and civil rights and once the interest is in him to wage a fight, he really shows that there鈥檚 no end to his potential.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a no-brainer that the city flag is not representative of the Montgomery we all love now. It鈥檚 just not, and if we put it to the community, which is the fair thing to do, and let the community decide, we will hear what they have to say, and whether it should change, and if so, how it should change and why it should change. And I think that Jeremiah鈥檚 generation should lead that conversation.鈥�

鈥楬istory has divided the country鈥�

Since his petition went public, Treece has faced some reminders of the forces still arrayed against change in a city like Montgomery. Racist and angry comments have been posted on his Facebook page 鈥� a reminder that, along with being the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, Montgomery was both the first capital of the Confederacy and the site of the largest slave market in the country.

鈥淚t has definitely made me realize how much history has divided the country 鈥� not just the city, but the country 鈥� and how much we still have to overcome,鈥� Treece said.

鈥淓very day in this city, we are walking on land that was old plantations, on streets that were built by my ancestors. That history is part of this city. Of course, there鈥檚 a lot of amazing things that have come from this city as well, like the Civil Rights Movement. We鈥檝e made a whole lot of progress. We鈥檝e moved forward a lot, but like I said, I just think there鈥檚 a whole lot more moving that we got to do.鈥�

Image at top: Jeremiah Treece, 17, a senior at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery, Alabama, is leading an effort to change the city's flag, which features Confederate iconography. (Credit: Hillary Hudson)