Women’s March Washington D.C.
Full disclosure: I should probably start this piece by saying that I’m really not the biggest fan of Donald Trump, his administration and his slew of executive orders that seem to get more restrictive and destructive by the day. I was at the Women’s March in the Netherlands, protested against the Muslim Ban (because that is exactly what it is, regardless of what Sean Spicer is trying to tell you), and I’m quite certain I will join the Scientists’ March on April 22nd as well.
However. While there is a very tangible feeling of fear, crisis and uncertainty, like a dark cloud that is constantly looming over the future of our international world order as a direct result of Trump’s divisive and ignorant politics - there is also something else in the air. Something positive that is worth mentioning, something that shouldn’t go unrecognized by mainstream media.
Because the sense of urgency and threat following Trump’s election has also brought about a widespread wake-up call. I’ve been feeling incredibly encouraged to see peers go through some sort of political awakening - realizing just how powerful their vote, and their voice can be. It’s safe to say that the majority of the people present at the marches I went to were young adults, between 18-30, making their voices heard as a collective.
You often hear that there’s a lack of interest from young people in politics, or the news. That if only more young people had voted, there’d been a different outcome in the two biggest political upsets of 2016 - Brexit and Trump. And it’s easy to say that based on numbers and statistics. There’s been a general decline in political/electoral engagement, with a decreasing voter turnout across all generations. And maybe it’s just because Western countries have gotten used to their democracy, have gotten lazy with political activism - they don’t see the point anymore. But successful mass protests in countries like Poland and Romania, show that the true spirit of democracy - people making their voices heard through peaceful protests - isn’t dead. In fact, Trump inadvertently caused the Women’s March to make history as the biggest protest march ever, and isn’t that just wonderful?
It’s what I’d like to call ‘the Trump Effect’. In a weird way, Trump has been able to accomplish something among the global youth that even Brexit, or any other phenomenon failed to do. His election resuscitated political engagement, and renewed interest in political processes and activism.
The youth is far from ignorant - they’re perhaps more aware than their own politicians of the detrimental effects political decisions today can have on their future. Because whatever is decided today, can make or break our world in just a few years’, or even days’ time. And it’s going to be on us to have to deal with whatever consequences this US administration will leave in its wake. It’s an inconvenient truth that America, whether we like it or not, plays a decisive role in global politics. However, it would be wrong to assume that young adults aren’t aware of that.
In fact, a side-effect of mass social media is that it allows us to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. And while it’s overwhelming and can create parallel truths, it also provides an open platform through which the global youth is able to inform themselves and their peers of what is important to them. Yet, the media continues to disregard it - politics continue to neglect it, and so the youth fails to translate their involvement into political action.
But something has changed post-Trump.
The fact that Teen Vogue wrote an incredibly accurate, well informed article on Trump’s gas-lighting tactics (which was more on point than what American mainstream media delivered), deserves to be recognized. The fact that the national protest against the Muslim Ban here in the Netherlands was organized by young adults deserves to be recognized. The fact that there is a young generation organizing grassroots movements - not just in the US, but all across the world - in response to Trump’s rhetoric and ideology, is something that deserves to be recognized.
There are so many bright individuals out there that one day will rule the world - those minds are the ones we should nurture, the ones we should praise, and the ones we should pay most attention to. They are already here, they’re already fighting for what they believe in, they shouldn’t have to fight to be recognized as such.
Let’s hope that the Trump Effect will change all of that. Donald Trump has made us - the younger generation, aware that we cannot put our fate in the hands of others. If we want to change the political landscape, it’s up to us to make our voices heard. And while Trump has made them considerably louder and united, we’re still asking for a microphone, still asking for a platform, still asking to be heard. So please - mainstream media and politics - give the youth that microphone, and listen to what we have to say.
Because you shouldn’t forget that we are your future too.
