By Nevaeh Morgan
With all the chaos and unfairness in the world today, there are obviously many changes that need to happen. We need a world of equality where everyone can walk down the street and feel safe. At this point, people don’t even feel safe in their homes with locked doors.
“I have never in my life been scared to stand in a room with an LGBTQ+ person. Or a POC. Or a Muslim. Or a Hindu. Or any religion. You know who I have been scared to stand in a room with? Middle aged white straight males.”
This is a tweet that around 100K Gen Zs have retweeted. These are the teens who are going to make the changes. We want to be the change in the world. And here are the reasons we will better the future.
It’s Our Future
We are the youngest contributing generation alive at the moment. By this, I mean we are the youngest people who have the opportunity to make changes to the world. So it would be safe to say, we need to fight for our future. We are going to be the ones who end up with the outcome of everyone’s involvement. It’s only fair that we stand up and make the improvements we want to see in the time to come. When the older generations try so much harder to make a shittier environment with their naive and hateful intentions, we need to fight back and prove that we have the power to create a positive and peaceful outcome for our generation and generations to come.
We Lack Money…
Since we are so young, not all of us have the opportunity to get a job. Even if we do, it’s not a high enough paying job to allow us to donate significant amounts of money. Not to say small amounts aren’t helpful, but they obviously don’t do as much as immense donations. So what are we to do? This provides the perfect circumstance for us to get out, become activists, and spread awareness. We need to let people know we care and that we can find ways to get our point across, other than just donating. Although if we have money to spare, it can be donated to researched organizations.
…But We Can Give Time
Since we don’t get the opportunity to have full time jobs and it’s currently summer, we have a lot of spare time on our hands. What better way to fill that open schedule than by working to create a positive and equal society for everyone. We have never had more chances to get things done and make our points heard than now. Many of us are striving to make significant changes and the only way to do so is to involve ourselves. Because millennials and boomers, for the most part, have greater responsibilities it is our job to take stance and prove that we know how we can create a superior lifestyle to the one we all are in at the moment. A life of peace, equality, and love.
We’re Enthusiastic and Passionate
The Black Lives Matter movement has come to show how enthusiastic Gen Z is toward making positive progress. I’ve seen peers I never thought understood the concept of activism, actually come to protests and scream ’til their throats ached and post about the matter more than they’ve posted about any one topic before. And these are just the kids who would normally stay quiet. Imagine how powerful the ones who already consider themselves activists are. Older generations still hold the power to make many greater developments, but I’ve seen so many Gen Zs fighting for the cause and spreading awareness. Which goes to prove that we try so hard to make the world a better place for everyone to live in.
We’re Tech Savvy
COVID-19 has put a halt on many people’s ability to leave the house. So because of that, protest and event populations aren’t as high as they normally would be. This causes many activists to turn to social media. Since Gen Zs have had access to cell phones and the internet all our lives, we are probably the most advanced in that territory. From what we’ve all recently seen, most Gen Zs have used their tech skills and used it for the greater good. Obviously there are the teens who don’t understand their privilege or don’t even grasp the concept of the movement, but you can always count on someone to call them out for it. Social media provides such a great opportunity for us to really fight for the people who deserve liberation and teens really need to continue to use that to their advantage.
If you’re a Gen Z and want to help but don’t know how, here’s a list of things you can do:
- Attend local protests and events
- Sign multiple petitions
- Call your government officials and demand justice
- Continue to learn
There’s so much that still needs to be done. Acknowledge your privilege, use your privilege. Continue to learn and let yourself grow so that you can be a better ally and a better help. Remember to always stay up-to-date on local events.
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