By Danielle Gantt andJanelle Stokes
We are a generation of quiet Americans- Generation Quiet. We are apathetic and silent about issues and do nothing to change them. When it's time to create change, we log onto Facebook and create a group instead of passing out flyers, protesting or chaining ourselves to a fence.
This weekend, Highlander participants pondered the schism that seems to be emerging between young and old activists.
New York Times Op-Ed columnist Thomas L. Friedman wrote in his Oct. 10, 2007, column titled "Generation Q" that he is impressed but confused by Generation Q because they are "much more optimistic and idealistic than they should be. I am baffled because they are so much less radical and politically engaged than they need to be."
Friedman and others note our generation is not only perceived tobe quiet, but some say our elders don't want to "pass the baton" of social activism due to our lack of passion.
Lee Turner, a senior from American Baptist College, said he believes the younger generation has to earn the trust of their elders.
"The younger generation has to earn the trust of their predecessors' generation solely because of how hard it was (for them) to getwhat they wanted," Turner said. "(In order to trust the younger generation, theelders) need to know that the younger generation has the mettle (to carry the baton)."
During a workshop titled "Highlander Center Today: Education,Resources and Resistance," students from Fisk, Tennessee State and Vanderbilt universities defended the complexities that chronicle being in Generation Q.
Sophomore DJ Hudson of Fisk speculates there is a "wall or barrier between the civil rights generation and the so-called hip-hop generation."
"This misconception leads to the belief that the elder generation doesn't understand us and that we don't listen to them," Hudson said. "I think that that's ridiculous."
Vanderbilt senior Akua Hill contradicts the complacency others use to describe her generation through her dedication to rebuilding human relationships.
Hill recounts her global activism work in Brazil, where she taught English classes and worked with both children and elderly women.
Her role in social change differs from the actions our predecessors made. The form of activism Hill and others have chosen "is a form that is not (the same as) the popular images of the civil rights movement."
"In our search to find our voice of expression we do things thatare community-service based," Hill said. "(We have a more) systematic approach to being able to express our power, but it is just as important."
Friedman argues that Generation Q needs a "jolt of idealism,activism and outrage" in order to be taken seriously. They need to organize and not rely on the convenience of the Internet because figures like "Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy didn't change the world by asking people to join their Facebook crusades or to download their platforms."
"Activism can only be uploaded the old-fashioned way - by young voters speaking truth to power, face to face," Friedman said.
- Danielle Gantt can be reached at danielle.a.gantt@vanderbilt.edu, and Janelle Stokes can be reached at janelle.k.stokes@vanderbilt.edu
