Justice & Law National Politics Change Happens When We Work Together: A Lesson From History

The article, published in Ms. magazine, discusses Black freedom and women’s rights issues, citing RepresentWomen by the numbers. Read a excerpt below:

My generation has been deemed the generation of activists by many as we are not only willing to use our collective voices to speak out but attend marches and protests to advocate together for what we believe. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) marches that took place after George Floyd’s death and the Women’s Marches that were held following the 2016 election have significantly impacted me and my generation. At the time of both the 2016 and 2020 elections I was too young to vote, as was most of my generation, so protest became one of our main means of influencing our nation. Social media was also highly influential and useful during this time as we were able to collectively mobilize as a group. I capitalized on the use of social media to post petitions for people to sign, find common meeting places for protests and events, discuss differences of opinions and locate resources that other teens were uploading.  

Collective action, particularly voting and protest, is essential for ensuring that American democracy upholds its values of being inclusive and representative of the nation’s demographic. Although protests are a significant and valuable tool, I want to join collaborative efforts that further my role in evolving our nation and contribute to the solution, which led me to intern at ReflectUS this summer. As the national, cross-partisan coalition of leading women’s representation organizations, ReflectUS has the unique capacity to expand political leadership for all women. Given that change and progress occur when people come together, ReflectUS’ ability to bring people together, work across racial, ethnic, ideological and party differences to build a national movement for change made it the perfect next step for me. The work of accelerating gender parity in our political system at all levels is essential to American democracy—one that echoes the nation’s composition at 51 percent women rather than its current abysmal rate of approximately half that.

The majority of Gen Z have lost faith in our government, but many, including myself, believe that we have the power to make the change and do it differently, especially if we work together. I am optimistic that one day our country will uphold its values and our government will represent and include all its citizens. For that to occur, people must be willing to work together across race, gender, ideology and party lines to obtain a more just society.

Read the full article here.