Read the original post at Young People For.
"Generation Y, the Millenial generation, has been called many things, the most insulting of which are: impatient, self-absorbed, and uninvolved. We, as members of the generation that grew up with the Internet on our laps and 9/11 in our classroom everyday, disagree. While many pop-culture pundits declare that our generation is not involved in formal politics and traditional community involvement, we have been engaging our world in new and different ways. S.C.O.U.T. B.A.N.A.N.A. (SB), an organization led and founded by young people, is working at the forefront of Generation Y's engagement. We believe young people are the key to social change and important vessels of cultural exchange."
- S.C.O.U.T. B.A.N.A.N.A. 2008
The engagement of Millenals or Generation Y is something that is very important to me and something that the organization thatI run is committed to on a more international scale. At Take Back America, today the panel is talking about the engagement of American millenial youth in grassroots politics across the US - Millenials Rising: Young Voters Revitalizing Democracy.
This engagement is something that we have seen with the most recent political campaigns. Young people are attacking the polls with a fervor unprecedented and for some reason it is frightening to many political pundits. Young people are coming out in force on issues they care about and yet still older generations say that we are just here for the fun of being involved and not necessarily to make a change. The New Left of the 60's and 70's is no longer so relevent, but it is not irrelevent. As millenials and the new face of the new left, we can learn from past experiences in activism and tactics, we can build on the past successes, we can connect the new left with the now left. I say "left" as only a way to play with words. Yet again I want to stress the importance of not cutting anyone out of the movement. We have no time to push out Republicans for the sole reason of being Republican or dividing people over basic party politics when what we are fostering is a movement that is not trapped in a party. The ideas and values we believe in as "progressives" are not only allowed in a liberal mind, or a in democrat's speech book. People are, or at least should be, our passion - not the division of and dislike for certain people. No one can be written off, no one can be looked over as already lost.
The opening speaker said about young people, "we are ready, we have the passion, the dedication - we are tired of the same old politics!" This always reminds me of a line that a speaker told the 2007 fellowship class. To paraphrase: when the politicians are too old to stand up for what's right and make their voice heard, then it is time for them to step down. We no longer have the luxury of letting our government decide what is best and accept it while playing our video games and watching MTV - and we, as millenials, recognize that fact. Young people are no longer just the demographic that can be relegated to a non-influential voting bloc. We as millenials have more resources than any other generation. We have numerous organizations itching to support our work, we have the opportunity to be our own political pundits by way of the internet, we have more social networking sites than probably necessary. Regardless these are huge points for mobilization along with the traditional organizing movement tactics of face-to-face interaction, sit-ins, talk-ins, protests, and putting up flyers.
Call me a millenial - interested in MTV, South Park, hip hop culture, or Facebook - but do not call me disengaged and unimportant in today's society or American politics.
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