Gen Z They stood up for black people, indigenous people, women, queer people They skipped school to bring attention to climate change They're a generation of movements and of marches -- I think the activists of the 70s would love them The media paint them as vapid and vain Or overly sensitive and fragile I think fragility is believing there is a PC war against you because there are consequences for when you use bigoted language now Gen z recognize where language leads They understand what it means when we start hearing "human animals" in political speeches and on the news They're the ones documenting, archiving and translating the last messages of Gaza They won't let anyone forget Over a million people, 50 percent of them children are being annihilated Zionists will build settlements on their bones Gen Z shared Mandela's grandson yelling out free, free Palestine From the river to the sea They shared the tiktoks of friends walking through the rubble, gathering in one neighbors house then another Because every building is getting bombed, every vehicle, every person They're yelling out for ambulances that aren't coming There is no electricity or water Maybe it's instinct-- the way Gen Z understand This is a time when the police are becoming increasingly militarized everywhere American police train with IDF soldiers Gen Z didn't grow up with the mythology of the 80s and 90s -- the booming economies that didn't see any bursting bubbles The friendly neighborhood beat cop In America, they grew up with school shooter drills, SWAT teams, friends being killed for existing while black, college debt if they try to be educated and a non livable wage if they choose to work In Europe where they can safely be educated, they understand the threat of climate change. They have access to news about the global south. They see the disconnect between traditional media and their direct sources on social media. They see their grandparents and parents being radicalized by TV and Facebook, they read about Nazis and watch their current politicians lean far right. They understand income inequality. They watched incompetent politicians kill off their grandparents during the pandemic. They watched corporations say the wheel has to keep turning. They didn't get to go to funerals. They did't get minute silences and counseling when they went back to school or work. They understand oppression Not just intellectually Though they are incredibly smart and I learn from them every day |