THREAD: When we were kids, carefree and untainted, we turned on the tv to watch the next episode of wizards of waverly place or jimmy neutron , accidentally flipped to the wrong tv station, and found the news filled with war zones, violence, disasters and tragedies.

We saw children our own age being killed. We asked our parents but they said we won’t understand. That was life in a post 9/11 world. Life went on a little... and we began to understand. We saw what was going on. We didn’t like it... but every time we said anything, we were told

we’re naive. We were told to be quiet and listen to the adults in the room. My generation was silenced. Then we found out that our entire future is at stake, our planet is dying, due to the same people who told us to shut up.Yet they did nothing to help. As our schools were being

attacked continuously... nothing changed. We told them we’re depressed and hurting and they told us to suck it up. We realized we can’t rely on them and turned our pain into power. This is OUR future. We won’t shut up and listen. We won’t be silenced.

We will not only stand up for ourselves but we’ll stand up for each other... for marginalized communities, for our friends, for people we don’t even know. They said the youth vote doesn’t matter. Yet here we are... turning the tide of the election.

Here we are organizing, volunteering, advocating, doing the unthinkable during an unimaginably difficult time. Our generation has so much potential,so much hope. Our voices matter. Our voices are being heard. We are changing the world. We are the hope.