Oprah Winfrey says the Parkland school shooting survivors who have channeled angst into activism and "warriors of the light." She also compared them to civil rights pioneers.
In a weekend interview with The Associated Press, Winfrey compared the teens to the Freedom Riders of the 1960s, who rode buses into southern states in protest of racial segregation.
Winfrey called the Parkland students' protests for gun control "a proud moment."
"It's an evolving moment for our country. The same thing happened, as you know, back in the '50s and '60s for the civil rights movement," Winfrey said.
"Young people said, 'We will not tolerate what our ancestors have tolerated. We have had enough and we're willing to fight for it and willing to march in the streets for it and, if necessary, die for it.'"
"These young people get to be literally warriors of the light," Winfrey said. "That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to — through their voices, through the March For Our Lives — say 'We will not let this happen again. We are going to do what we can to banish the darkness.'"