The Election Is Over, Now What? Youth Civic Engagement as a Path to Critical Consciousness

• Published in: Journal of adolescent health Vol. 68; no. 2; pp. 233 - 235
• Main Authors: Miller, Kathleen K., Shramko, Maura, Brown, Calla, Svetaz, Maria Veronica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.02.2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Activists; Black Lives Matter movement; Citizen participation; Climate change; Consciousness; Demonstrations & protests; Equity; Excessive force; Floyd, George; Generation Z; Killing; Nakate, Vanessa; Police; Police brutality; Political movements; Political participation; Racism; Secondary schools; Shooting; Social justice; Systemic racism; Thurnberg, Greta; Youth
• ISSN: 1054-139X; 1879-1972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.10.033

Since the extrajudicial killing of Mr. George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on Memorial Day, 2020, many have observed profound shifts in public discourse, with protests and uprisings around the world fighting against police brutality and systemic racism. The youth presence in the Black Lives Matter movement clearly demonstrates the power young people bring to political movements, and young people around the world are often on the forefront of political engagement and activism. For example, teen climate change activists such as Vanessa Nakate in Uganda, Greta Thurnberg in Sweden, and Autumn Peltier of the Wikwemikong First Nation have generated international momentum for addressing climate change. Parkland High School students became strong advocates for firearm safety after the Parkland mass shooting, organizing the nationwide March for Our Lives in 2018. Often, these youth-led movements emerge from collective trauma and injustice, carrying on legacies of previous generations of activists who radically reimagine the society. Gen Z is the most racially diverse generation in the history of the US, and its members value social justice, equity, and societal change.