Teen Activists

Yasmine Eison, Staff

Many young people have already taken action to change. Not only their changing things but they are making movements. They’re fighting for child labor laws, LGBTQ rights, BLM,  voting rights, civil rights, immigration reform and school desegregation. Any person can become an activist and all you need to do is educate others on something you think needs to be discussed.

When students find something they care about, their natural instinct is to share their knowledge to others.  Whether it’s talking to people about it or just writing something online to make a statement. There are many communities and programs to join for really anything. Young people taking even a bigger action to write letters to legislators to talk about youths’ goals and things that are important to the young community. Personally I think that everyone should teach something that’s important to them to other people so they can make a difference.

For example singer Sonita Alizadeh raps about important subjects and created a rap about “Brides for Sale” explaining how she was forced to marry twice in her home country, Afghanistan, at 10 and 16 years old. The song went viral and she spoke on January 2017 about immigrants rights at March of Washington. There are so many more young activist making a difference such as Jazz Jennings. She is a trans activist that made a Youtube series called “I am Jazz” to help trans people have a voice and cope with the world that doesn’t always see them as equal. Also, there are many podcasts that talk about these issues such as “Teenage Therapy” on Spotify.  There are so many resources online to educate people. This will start helping our world become better today.

  • Thandiwe Abullah- She made a Black Lives Matter Movement in 2013 in the response of the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Making a message about the movement to U.S. schools.
  • Zee Thomas, Jade Fuller, Nya Collins, Kennedy Green, Mikayla Smith and Emma Rose Smith made a community called “Teens 4 Equality” Making one of the largest protest concerning George Floyd. Highlighted that Barack Obama and higher leaders need to take more awareness to systemic racism.
  • Kenidra Woods wrote short stories such as “Cheetah” and “A Heart of Hope” about facing mental health at a young age. It became a movement to stop bullying, gun violence and stigmas surrounding mental health.
  • Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez has wanted to save the world since he was six. He made a powerful speech in 2015 about climate change. He has also served on President Obama’s Youth Council. He is one of the 21 people who has sued the federal government including Donald Trump for the lacking on the act of climate change.
  • Bana Alabed was the youngest, at eight years old, for the 2018 Academy Awards Ceremony. She performed the song “Stand Up for Something” under many other activist. Also, has a book was published about her explaining a hard experience with hunger and airstrike during the siege of living in Apello, Syria.
  • Oluwatoyin Salau passed from a frightful death, but she will be remembered for speaking on the behalf for George Floyd and Tony Mcdade. Mcdade was a case about a African American transgender man who was killed by Tallahassee, Fla. officers. George Floyd was also killed by a officer Minneapolis, Minn.