Bombs are landing in their city. Shooters are attacking their schools. The world is warming. But these young activists are cutting through the nonsense, fighting for resolution, and with emerging social media technology, they are spreading their political messages worldwide and sparking real inspiration and change.
Here is a look at four young activists who are inspiring action around the world.
Greta Thunberg
The Climate Strike, a global movement where school kids strike for climate change from their respective governments instead of attending school, started because of Greta Thunberg. Then-15 years old, Greta sat in front of the Swedish Parliament every day for three weeks in August 2018. Her social media posts documenting this went viral.
#FridaysForFuture was a tag she started with her protest, which continues being used today.
Earlier this year, Greta delivered a TEDTalk in Stockholm that discussed society’s relationship with climate change, and the urgent need for action.
“Rich countries like Sweden need to start reducing emissions by at least 15 percent every year. And that is so that we can stay below a two-degree warming target. Yet, as the IPCC has recently demonstrated, aiming instead for 1.5 degrees Celsius would significantly reduce the climate impacts. But we can only imagine what that means for reducing emissions. You would think the media and every one of our leaders would be talking about nothing else, but they never even mention it.”
On September 19, 2019, Greta addressed the US Congress, urging them to “not listen to [her], but to the scientists.”
‘I want you to unite behind the science. And then I want you to take real action.’ — @GretaThunberg shared this powerful message while testifying to Congress about climate change pic.twitter.com/c9zU6tA0uB
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 18, 2019
Greta doesn’t fly and is vegan in order to live a low-carbon life. She was named one of the worlds most influential teens by TIME magazine and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.
Listen to her full TEDTalk here:
Greta Thunberg: The disarming case to act right now on climate change
In this passionate call to action, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg explains why, in August 2018, she walked out of school and organized a strike to raise awareness of global warming, protesting outside the Swedish parliament and grabbing the world’s attention. “The climate crisis has already been solved.
Malala Yousafzai
Malala has become synonymous with girls’ rights to education. The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner’s activism started at age 11 when she stood up to the Taliban who destroyed schools and banned girls from going to school. On Pakistani TV, she gave a speech and said “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education”. The BBC asked her a year later to blog about her experience living under the Taliban’s oppression.
Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize Speech
“My great hope is that this will be the last time we must fight for the education of our children. Let us solve this once and for all.”Join her movement to s…
Instead of stopping her, an assassination attempt by the Taliban fuelled her fire. After her recovery, she went on to speak to the UN about women’s rights and girls’ education in 2013. At that conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pronounced her birthday on July 12th as ‘Malala Day’ in honour of her bravery and activism.
Currently, Malala is urging the UN to act to aid Kashmiri children to return to school after India revoked Article 370, splitting the state into two Union Territories.
Bana Alabed
Bana Alabed acquired worldwide recognition after her tweets pleading for peace during Aleppo’s siege in 2016 went viral. Bana’s childhood ended at the age of three when the Syrian civil war began. She used her harsh circumstances to become a voice of liberation for innocent children and victims of violence. Her tweets reached across the globe, shining a light on the horrifying reality of her defiled city.
“I’d close my eyes tightly and hope for the bombings to stop. Day after day. Year after year. But, they didn’t. I hoped for peace. I hoped for the suffering to stop. I hoped for someone to hear the children like me, but no one could hear us,” – Bana Alabed in ‘Your Voice Can Make a Difference’.
Your voice can make a difference
Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana): https://twitter.com/AlabedBana?s=09
Over the next four years, Bana lost her best friend, school, home, and city.
Last message – under heavy bombardments now, can’t be alive anymore. When we die, keep talking for 200,000 still inside. BYE.- Fatemah
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) November 27, 2016
Since her initial tweets, Bana has written her own book, ‘Dear World; A Syrian Girl’s Story of War and Plea for Peace’ and been honored with the Rising Star Award at The Asian Awards in 2018.
Emma Gonzalez
Emma Gonzalez is a survivor of the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018.
Gonzalez was a high school senior when a gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. The tragedy ended with 17 children losing their lives and 17 more injured, making it the deadliest school shooting in US history.
She gave a passionate 11-minute speech at a gun control rally in front of the Broward County Courthouse, Florida.
“We are going to be the last mass shooting,” González said. “That’s going to be Marjory Stoneman Douglas in that textbook, and it’s all going to be due to the tireless efforts of the school board, the faculty members, the family members and most importantly the students.”
Florida student to NRA and Trump: ‘We call BS’
Emma Gonzalez, a student at the Parkland, Florida high school where 17 people were left dead after a mass shooting, calls out President Trump and the NRA by …
On March 24, 2018, González and other Parkland survivors planned and participated in the nationwide March for Our Lives protest. González spoke for six minutes and 20 seconds, the amount of time it took for the gunman to kill those 17 students.
Emma Gonzalez’s powerful March for Our Lives speech in full
Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez – who had been a leading voice immediately after the attack on her school – took to the stage in Washington DC for s…
(Featured Image: Barry Stock on Flickr)
