As a young black woman attending SDSU, Kiarra Mapp says she had an experience that woke her up to the importance of individual liberty. Mapp says she was tabling for her student group, Turning Point USA, last fall semester when a professor reprimanded her over disagreement about socialism and identity politics.
Because she dared to form her own opinions as an African-American, she was vilified as an “Uncle Tom.” Following this “heartbreaking” encounter with a “racist and controlling” professor, Mapp says she became more resolved to defend liberty.
After the college shutdown in March, she watched politicians impose tighter restrictions for six weeks and as she followed the data, she realized that the coronavirus—though real—isn’t what it has been hyped up to be. When state and county stay-at-home orders were extended indefinitely at the end of April, she was motivated to look for a protest to join.
Kiarra Mapp at the “Reopen San Diego” rally. Photo by J. Daniel Jones
On May 1, she went to the Hall of Justice in downtown San Diego to join the “Reopen San Diego” rally. Mapp says she’s tired of “power hungry politicians” who “act like gods” and “punish those who dare question their authority.”
Mapp says she’s also tired of Democratic politicians and the media playing on people’s fears. “Machiavelli taught the best leaders are feared more than they are loved because fear drives people to do what they want. The virus has been used as a control mechanism to take our freedom away,” she explained. Mapp added that her protest is “not about feeling entitled to a manicure… I was out there demanding people get their independence back. Stop making people dependent on the government and give us our economy back. All jobs are essential. The government can’t fix this.”
Mapp says that she has been inspired by her mother, who “always stood for what she believed in… My mother was a political activist in her home country, Australia, with her father. When she came to the U.S. she served in the Navy, then became a paralegal for the district attorney’s office, and got her bachelors in criminal justice. I’ve been heavily involved in politics since joining the Turning Point USA SDSU chapter in fall of 2018.”
While Mapp’s story is unique, it certainly resonates with what many people around San Diego and the rest of the country are experiencing. It’s unclear when life will return to normal, but passionate Americans like Kiarra Mapp will certainly keep fighting for the restoration of liberty.
