THE YOUTH AT THE FOREFRONT OF CHANGE

It’s hard to ignore what’s going on in cities around the country. Protests, riots and looting. Arrests, assaults and killings.  Thousands of people have taken it upon themselves to bring justice and hold law enforcement and other institutions accountable for their heinous actions.

At the forefront of this struggle, we have people from all races coming together to fight against the systems of oppression. When live news stations broadcast people on the streets, the majority of the people out there are young people, ages 18 to 40 trying to change the way society is. The young people in this society have taken it upon themselves to change decades worth of oppression, but the question is why? Why are millennials and Gen Zers at the forefront of these struggles, when these struggles affect every minority regardless of age.

The answer comes in the criticism of today’s youth. Millennials are labeled as the generation that is lazy and void of any responsibility, and ironically, those very details are the reason why they are.

If history teaches us anything, it’s that young people are more willing to voice their opinion despite the consequences because the youth doesn’t have a lot to lose in the sense that they haven’t started families yet or have big financial obligations. Not only that, but their lack of “obligations” doesn’t obscure the goal of the fight: they think about the greater good more than they do about themselves.

Whether it was in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement or a call to the end of the Vietnam war, the youth has always carried the torch of progress.

And today it isn’t any different. The reasons might not be as clear to older generations and it might even seem irresponsible in all its irony. The youth’s incessant efforts will always be effective in changing political and social policies alike, today and in all the years to come.