Activism

On the morning of Nov. 9, I woke up and cried.

America had elected Donald Trump as our new president, and I couldn’t help but the think of all the people whom this would affect in an awful way. Perhaps it was silly of me to cry. As a middle-class, half-white girl, I’ve got to remember to check my privileges. But perhaps it wasn’t silly at all, perhaps it was perfectly legitimate, because of the pang of fear I felt for the people who were not so privileged, for people who were afraid for their lives because of our new president-elect.

The worst feeling I felt stemmed from the fact that I couldn’t vote. I was born five months too late to qualify for voting in this presidential election. I had no say or control in this decision at all.

But the freedom to vote is not my only liberty. My rights to petition, free speech and assembly are outlined in the First Amendment and my promised right to vote isn’t even outlined until the 19th and 26th Amendments. And never is my age accounted for in my First Amendment rights.

I’m aware that my Anti-Trump hashtags and subtle addition of a safety pin attached to my shirt won’t capture the attention of anyone notable. But collectively, the voices of my generation are strong. Central junior Riley Kessler organized a peaceful walkout and rally and invited all students who were unhappy with the election results to participate. The rally drew attention from the New York Post and ABC national news. “I am a small 16-year-old and I got my high school on the New York Post and national news; never ever think your voice isn’t heard,” Kessler tweeted later after the rally.

The people who criticized Central for the rally mainly argued that what we were doing didn’t mean anything. They argued that we were wasting our time, sacrificing our education for something hopeless, and that certainly this wasn’t going to change the results of the election. The people who criticized us don’t understand.

The Constitution was meant to secure the liberties of all future generations; it wasn’t just written to free the colonies. It guarantees to all its citizens, living and yet to be born, that America will always be the best country on earth–not because of how it currently stands or stood before the Bill of Rights, but because the American people will never be limited from believing in a better future. There will always be possibility for change and improvement.

The Constitution’s statement that only persons of 18 years or older can vote should not stop young people from advocating for their rights. Their concerns are not valued less simply because they were born five months short of the presidential election. I am not any less afraid of a Trump presidency because of my age. In fact, I know that the results of his presidency will resonate with me and my children more than it will with the people who determined the election. According to SurveyMonkey, if Millennials solely had voted, Hillary Clinton would have won the presidency with a whopping 473 electoral votes. Yet the people of America whose future is not so drastically affected by a Trump presidency granted him 305 electoral votes.

Elections are not my only civil liberty. I have the right to protest, to assemble and to speak my mind. I know my safety pin won’t make Hillary president, but I don’t care. I am afraid and anxious and strong and determined. My hashtags are not meant to be a feeble threat to Mr. Trump, but reassurance to my friends and peers and anyone in between that I am with them. We are together in what we feel.

In a time where we will hardly find comfort in those ruling our nation, we will have to learn to find comfort, love and strength in each other.