Youth to Power Quotes

“Years can go by where no one says anything or those who do don't say enough--so you just have to stand up and decide, enough already, and be the one to break the silence. Then those who have felt that way all along will follow.”
― Jamie Margolin, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It

“We live in a world where justice is never simply handed over. It has to be demanded, and then demanded over and over again. For every great social movement in history, it has taken the unique wisdom and strength of every generation united to move the needle toward change.”
― Jamie Margolin, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It

“Find out what triggers your unhealthy feelings, and avoid or find healthy ways to cope with them as much as possible!”
― Jamie Margolin, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It

“The truth is that "activism" can and must be practiced in many ways that often go unnoticed. It is listening and building relationships. It's writers who focus on issues and perspectives outside the status quo. It's teachers who lift up marginalized voices and try to also learn from their students. It's prison inmates reading books to educate themselves about politics and business. It is being what society deems "other" or "not normal" and yet radically loving yourself. As people focus on "trendy" activism--youth who get attention from the media, give powerful speeches at rallies, and attempt to do the biggest and flashiest possible things--we (myself very much included) have to remember that those attention-generating strategies are not the only way to create change. As activists, we must keep educating ourselves, listening to other perspectives, and remembering to be aware as much as possible. We must challenge ourselves not to just advocate for "our own" issues, but strive to lift up other issues, voices who aren't being heard, and ways in which issues intersect...

At the same time, we are all on a journey to find our own strengths and passions and use them for good, to make this type of daily "activism" a norm in every occupation and community. That work is often hard, it's not flashy, it can go against the societal expectation of being complacent and following rules, but it's so important. Whoever you are, you can be an activist too--you just have to figure out the way that will work best for you.”
― Jamie Margolin, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It

“Falling into the hole of but I started before that person and they're getting more attention is not healthy, because there is always someone who came before you. People rise to fame in the blink of an eye, and others will work for years, even decades, with little to no glory. It's just the reality of the job and the way the media operates. That's why you have to stay grounded in your why, because your why will keep you motivated and ready to keep fighting even when the credit and cameras do not come. The press often covers the person who lit the fire, not the people who spend years laying the kindling so the fire will catch and spread.”
― Jamie Margolin, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It

“Politicians always tell me, "Keep up the good work; your generation is going to save the world!"

They are both so right and so unbelievably wrong at the same time.

As young people, we do have great power to move the political needle toward change, and we have done it countless times in history before. But there are also so many things not in our power, and it is unacceptable for leaders to put the burden of the problems they created and have the power to fix on our shoulders. Climate disaster is the perfect example of this. If we wait until Generation Z is old enough to be in power, it will be far too late to address this crisis.”
― Jamie Margolin, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It

“So if our goal is to shift the culture, we have to work on making influences in mediums that control the culture. So what does control our culture? Art. Music, photography, paintings, drawings, films, videos... if you think about what shapes and moves our society forward, it's art. If you think about what you spend most of your time listening to and looking at, whether an Instagram photo, a show, a song--all of that is art. So not only is it important to use art in our resistance and activism; it is vital. Because how else are we going to reach people? Art is a universal language, a way of making people see and understand experiences in a profound new light. Art influences society by changing opinions, instilling values, and translating experiences across space and time. Art is a way of taking up space and reclaiming narratives that are never told otherwise.”
― Jamie Margolin, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It

“We cannot pit generations against each other or forget the decades of hard changemaking work that came before us.”
― Jamie Margolin, Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It