Lessons from the Classroom

I had a seminar session for class today and as most journalism classes go, we talked about the current political and economic climate of North America. One of my classmates brought up the shooting in Colorado, how a drag queen took it upon themself to beat the shooter to the brink of death. My classmate said something I would never forget "They knew no one was coming to save them, so they took care of it themself". I couldn't stop thinking about that line and how I didn't feel safe either. I looked around at each of my fellow students as he said that. No one felt safe. In that moment, we all knew that no one was coming to save us.

Gen Z has grown up in disaster after disater. Climate change, Ebole virus, Covid-19, Russian versus Ukraine war, Black Lives Matter, The Me Too Movement. Not only have we lived through it but it has become part of us. The role we play in this world is to make others feel safe because we don't. No one is coming to save us. The baby boomer generation destroyed our economy. Millenials have taken away the rights our ancestors fought tooth and nail for. We watched as you demolished forests, filled the oceans with plastic, over fished, under paid. We yelled, screamed, fought for our elders to do something, to do anything, to bring us that sliver of comfort. Safety was never an option.

Gen Z lives on the brink of social and economic collapse. We never know when the next big thing will come but it will. We don't have the luxury to feel safe in the state we're in but we have the courage to fight for it. This generation will continue to fight against the political powers who yearn to turn us into mindless robots living paycheque to paycheque.

That drag queen did what they could to keep themselves safe from harm. They did it for everyone in the room and the world that was watching. We know no one is coming to save us and that is why we will continue to fight.