Picture this: five twenty-something college women pile into a red sedan and set off for Washington, D.C. on a cold January night. It takes them 14 hours and almost 900 miles, but in the glow of the morning twilight, they unfold pink signs from their backseat and join hands. They march with more than 500,000 people that day.
18 months later the driver of that red sedan is walking down the same road, this time with her family. This time, she marches for those in search of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
This is a space for those that were there and those that hope to be some day.
In a study on millennials published by the American Press Institute, only 23% of them fall into the “Activist” category. That being said, most are well-educated and they boast the most ethnic diversity of any group discussed. “Nearly half of Activists have at least a college degree (43 percent), which is the highest proportion of the four groups, and another 26 percent have some college or technical training.” They, unlike younger millennials and Generation Z, join online platforms to stay informed and have engagement to online news sources.
What does this say about the other 77%? If anything, they may be a bit harder to reach.
My hope is to engage a younger millennial and Gen-Z audience; one that uses social media, you know, socially. The University of Pittsburgh Communications Department says this: “An effective speaker must be able to show their audience why the topic they are speaking on should be important to them.” I want to create something accessible, something thought provoking; writing that is filled with contradiction as it twists its’ way through questions with no black or white answer. I think this is precisely the space America (and Americans) hangs in today, waiting for words to inspire our next step forward.
I agree with you and what you are pursing through this blog. The message you are trying to convey is something that is almost subconsciously done but has never been put so literal and that is why I am intrigued by your choice to choose this to focus on. The research you have done about the activists numbers has me interested in what the future of this blog may look like. I am interested in what questions you may be asking next and what it will inspire me to do with my platform. I believe that every one on the planet wants to have left a mark when their time comes. The thought of having had gone through life without leaving an impact makes my stomach turn. Though I do wonder if that is a Gen-Z mentality or if generations before have also thought the same way.
You are very involved in research and show a lot of aspiration for activism. Your blogs have so far been very attention catching and you seem like such a hard worker, setting up a great scene and information on the audience you plan to grab. Keep up the great work. I am interested in finding out more about the research you’ll use and what actions you plan to take for your research.