They’re young. They’re angry. And there are millions of them.
Around the world the next generation of activists are on the move and making their voices heard. Momentum is growing.
Just this year, Gen Z has marched across the globe affecting outcomes from as far as Indonesia, Kenya, and Peru. Plus, they were instrumental in the downfall of Victor Orban and ending 16-years of his autocratic regime in Hungary.
In a recent journal essay, Harvard Kennedy School Professor Erica Chenoweth:
“Between 1990 and 2020, 80% of nonviolent campaigns to topple incumbent national leaders or achieve self-determination featured substantial youth participation.”
What’s driving this outrage?
Corruption.
From major cities, to rural towns, young people are sick of political elites flaunting their privilege while millions suffer and die.
Couple it with constant ICE raids, assaults on trans and gay rights, the war in Iran, Palestinian Genocide, and our general descent into kleptocratic autocracy, and no wonder that young people are beginning to show up en masse at No Kings protests.
To hear what young people are fighting for, Unruled Masses was there to give them a platform. Hear what they had to say.
For this young woman, the abusive immigration practices in home town brought her out:
“There’s a gross abuse of power going on in the White House with bribes from foreign officials, we have that cover up of the Epstein files, the injustice that is being done to immigrants who come to this country has affected my community personally.”
These young people, we’re proud to say, were marching in their first protest. They understand that if we want a future that works for us, we have to fight for it.
“It’s important to participate in protest to use our freedom of speech and actually make a statement. We aren’t silenced by the destruction that Trump is making.”
Finally, she might have said it best.
“Enough was enough for me when he came down the elevator. The corruption that we see right now is so in our face. It’s so offensive, it’s so brutal. And I feel that at this point, what is corruption? If you were to ask me 40 years ago, I’d say Watergate was corruption. Now Watergate looks like a Tuesday morning for us.”
Amen.
As we move forward, protests of old are no longer going to be how change is created.
We can’t expect Gen Z to act like their parents because their lives are so radically different from their parents.
It’s time we all learn how the young affect change and it starts with understanding the values they utilize when engaged in modern resistance.
Again, from Erica Chenoweth:
- Gen Z movements tend to be decentralized, without a leader or hierarchical structure, preferring horizontal ties and digital organizing.
- Many Gen Z protests are more focused on socioeconomic issues, inequality, corruption, and nepotism.
It’s because of these tactics that the sun is finally peeking out on the horizon.
Gen Z’s movements are succeeding despite democratic backsliding all over the world. It’s no coincidence that Zohran Mamdani was able to tap into this demographic and win the NYC Mayoral race.
And it’s the same tactics that upended what everyone assumed was an illiberal democracy in Hungary.
Because, at the end of the day, there is one message that we can all agree on.
“Democracy means being able to express yourself, use your voice, use your vote, and to have a safe environment where all men and women are created equal and and we get equal chances to do whatever and chase our dreams.” – NYC Young Protestors at No Kings