so I just want to start off with a
couple questions they’re all you know
what do you like better questions so
there’s no need to answer out loud just
think about them to yourself we’ll start
off with an easy one what do you like
better Congress or zombies actually
let’s let’s move on to another one what
do you like better Congress or witches
and not just those cute little smart
Hermione witches those Wicked Witch of
the West witches and it’s my personal
favorite what do you like better
Congress or hemorrhoids I bet you I I
mean you’re glad that I didn’t have
pictures for this one and so if you’re a
representative of the American
population as a whole statistically
speaking 43% of you prefer zombies to
Congress 46% of you prefer witches and a
whopping 53% of you that’s a majority
before hemorrhoids to Congress so that’s
obviously a huge problem people hate
Congress and why is that what’s just
because they just can’t get anything
done right and the bigger question here
is why why is this because just two
decades ago Congress’s approval rating
was 50 points higher and as the saying
goes usually the answer is just the
simplest one and that is voting you know
voting is the easiest way to make your
voice heard yet in midterm elections
like the one coming up this year less
than 35% of eligible voters participate
Congress’s inability to pass effective
legislation of any kind has led to a
decrease in voting among those ordinary
people like you and me moderates why
vote if it doesn’t matter right and this
means politicians are voted in only by
extremes because moderates just can’t
stand their choices the choices that
they have and when extremes vote they
vote only for other extremes right and
so the US we enter a vicious circle a
top we have extremes voting for other
extremes extreme politicians refusing to
refusing to work with each other right
that means they can’t pass anything
which creates further apathy in the
political system which means which turns
off even more ordinary people
right polarization breeds apathy I mean
how many times have you heard anyone
parents relatives friends my dad in the
back there complain about politics right
all the time all my damn taxes are too
high you know all these wars are
screwing us up
global warming is just gonna kill you
I’ll show ya right and then and then you
know Election Day comes I’m like hey
would you vote for and they’re like ah
gotcha I didn’t vote I’m too busy right
so I mean come on at the core democracy
requires us to actively engage in it it
demands daily participation in order to
be successful and we just don’t see that
today today we see commentators
childishly bigger on cable news we see
facts seemingly created out of thin air
and we see a breakdown of trust in one
another and in the system so now more
than ever it’s easy to just curl up in a
ball and cry and trust me I’ve tried
unfortunately it doesn’t work but only
in darkness do you see the stars the key
the key question that we have to ask is
how do we break out of this vicious
cycle right and the answer it has to be
us us as in the youth you guys right
there and I guess me too
we must you lead the charge to take back
democracy from those who seek to
manipulate it according to their wishes
right so keeping this question in mind
we’ll get to in a moment I’d like to
think I’d like to take a moment to think
about something how can we teens
overcome the institutional barriers that
prevent us from political involvement
and creating creating clear lasting
change and so first some inspiration to
this answer let’s look to the past the
pattern of young people working to fix
adults mistakes is nothing new in our
country’s history and might I add adults
bitter hostility virulence and sometimes
hatred of the change that youth are
bringing to this country is nothing new
either we can go all the way back let’s
take it back a trick back over a hundred
years 1899 when a newspaper a group of
newspaper voice literal twelve year olds
started Union and over 3,000 people to
protest new child labor laws they took
on two of the most
powerful media moguls in the world
William Randolph Hearst and Joseph
Pulitzer in one in one confrontation a
literal brawl broke out between a group
of a group of the newspaper boys and the
and then a couple of men who were hired
to replace them the boys won let’s skip
ahead fifty years and that’s one teen
scene and adults really burst onto the
national scene 1957 nineteen Agers
fourteen fifteen sixteen year olds they
enrolled in a in a little high school in
Arkansas they’re the first black kids
ever in that school one girl had acid
thrown into her eyes and other flaming
pieces of paper dropped onto her from
above while she is in the bathroom
they were spat on they were called the
worst names in the English language and
they were just I mean absolutely hated
and they later became known as the
Little Rock Nine
so teens were instrumental in in the
civil rights movement the Green was
arrested in the march on Washington
Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama in
Birmingham children were tear gassed
attacked by dogs and blasted with fire
hoses now let’s go even further taking a
few more years 1970 Kent State
University this time protests over the
Vietnam War unarmed students were killed
tear gassed and abused by police
protesting the Vietnam War now let’s
skip ahead to more decades right two
more decades this time Tiananmen Square
and Tiananmen Square I don’t know if you
guys know this but that there were there
are estimated hundred thousand students
there protesting to check the censorship
laws in China as well as communism there
and you know a couple thousand soldiers
they’re armed with tanks and rifles they
opened fire on those kids and thousands
were estimated to be killed and now two
decades
two decades later 2018 we’re at the
present parkland Florida let’s look at
that example right survivors of a
massacre were called quote child or
excuse me
crisis actors a candidate for Maine
State Legislature called Emma Gonzales a
quote skin
lesbian right so I’ve read this as
conclusion that you know a lot of adults
aren’t gonna like and that’s that adults
love to talk the talk but they just they
hate to walk the walk what do I mean by
this teens and youth or Harold is
brilliant passionate optimistic but it
seems that whenever they try to put
those talents to use they’re just shot
down by any means necessary by adults
sometimes quite literally let’s take for
example Malala she was heralded as you
know the girl who’s gonna bring
education to millions of poor girls
around the world she was literally shot
in the face by the Taliban and so this
brings me back to the question I asked
earlier how do we overcome those
institutionalized barriers to progress
and like before the answer is quite
simple first we need to recognize the
movements I mentioned earlier they were
all successful civil rights Vietnam even
Tiananmen Square – to an extent my point
is at the core we need to have hope that
our efforts will be successful second we
need to view democracy not as a
once-a-year engagement on election day
but a daily activity that requires
active not passive participation all
right asshole so how do I engage in
democracy every day simple things you
know reading the news listening to the
radio if anyone does that anymore
signing a petition talking to government
officials you know learning about the
basic structure of our government I
can’t stress this enough guys listening
to other people’s opinions debate is
elementary to democracy and by limiting
your worldview only to the bubble that
Facebook or Twitter creates not only
just feeds that confirmation bias but
adds to that polarization that we
established was the main problem in the
first place and so finally if we’re
gonna go out if we’re gonna as the youth
try to affect change we need a protest
with the purpose what does that mean
pick an issue gather support and don’t
stop until you get what you want quite
simple
all too often protests are devoid of
clear messaging characterized by
incomplete organization and as a result
failed to galvanize the public support
needed to spur the action and so that
brings me to that last example that I
mentioned you know here today 2018
talking Florida at March for our lives
moment isn’t making these mistakes and
that’s what makes me so optimistic that
this time we will see real change all
the actions taken the tweets the
petitions the protests the rallies on
CNN you know screaming they’re all
singularly focused on invigorating the
public for elections they have a clear
message a central organization and they
are ruthless and leaving behind anything
that deviates from their goal and from
this I’ve learned we need we need more
diverse youth in them in running for
office actually and adults not
discounting the potential that we teens
have to change the world and finally an
empowerment among kids that their
opinions matter be the change you wish
to see in the world thank you so much
for sticking around my name is Ashe
we’ll have a go on [Applause]
couple questions they’re all you know
what do you like better questions so
there’s no need to answer out loud just
think about them to yourself we’ll start
off with an easy one what do you like
better Congress or zombies actually
let’s let’s move on to another one what
do you like better Congress or witches
and not just those cute little smart
Hermione witches those Wicked Witch of
the West witches and it’s my personal
favorite what do you like better
Congress or hemorrhoids I bet you I I
mean you’re glad that I didn’t have
pictures for this one and so if you’re a
representative of the American
population as a whole statistically
speaking 43% of you prefer zombies to
Congress 46% of you prefer witches and a
whopping 53% of you that’s a majority
before hemorrhoids to Congress so that’s
obviously a huge problem people hate
Congress and why is that what’s just
because they just can’t get anything
done right and the bigger question here
is why why is this because just two
decades ago Congress’s approval rating
was 50 points higher and as the saying
goes usually the answer is just the
simplest one and that is voting you know
voting is the easiest way to make your
voice heard yet in midterm elections
like the one coming up this year less
than 35% of eligible voters participate
Congress’s inability to pass effective
legislation of any kind has led to a
decrease in voting among those ordinary
people like you and me moderates why
vote if it doesn’t matter right and this
means politicians are voted in only by
extremes because moderates just can’t
stand their choices the choices that
they have and when extremes vote they
vote only for other extremes right and
so the US we enter a vicious circle a
top we have extremes voting for other
extremes extreme politicians refusing to
refusing to work with each other right
that means they can’t pass anything
which creates further apathy in the
political system which means which turns
off even more ordinary people
right polarization breeds apathy I mean
how many times have you heard anyone
parents relatives friends my dad in the
back there complain about politics right
all the time all my damn taxes are too
high you know all these wars are
screwing us up
global warming is just gonna kill you
I’ll show ya right and then and then you
know Election Day comes I’m like hey
would you vote for and they’re like ah
gotcha I didn’t vote I’m too busy right
so I mean come on at the core democracy
requires us to actively engage in it it
demands daily participation in order to
be successful and we just don’t see that
today today we see commentators
childishly bigger on cable news we see
facts seemingly created out of thin air
and we see a breakdown of trust in one
another and in the system so now more
than ever it’s easy to just curl up in a
ball and cry and trust me I’ve tried
unfortunately it doesn’t work but only
in darkness do you see the stars the key
the key question that we have to ask is
how do we break out of this vicious
cycle right and the answer it has to be
us us as in the youth you guys right
there and I guess me too
we must you lead the charge to take back
democracy from those who seek to
manipulate it according to their wishes
right so keeping this question in mind
we’ll get to in a moment I’d like to
think I’d like to take a moment to think
about something how can we teens
overcome the institutional barriers that
prevent us from political involvement
and creating creating clear lasting
change and so first some inspiration to
this answer let’s look to the past the
pattern of young people working to fix
adults mistakes is nothing new in our
country’s history and might I add adults
bitter hostility virulence and sometimes
hatred of the change that youth are
bringing to this country is nothing new
either we can go all the way back let’s
take it back a trick back over a hundred
years 1899 when a newspaper a group of
newspaper voice literal twelve year olds
started Union and over 3,000 people to
protest new child labor laws they took
on two of the most
powerful media moguls in the world
William Randolph Hearst and Joseph
Pulitzer in one in one confrontation a
literal brawl broke out between a group
of a group of the newspaper boys and the
and then a couple of men who were hired
to replace them the boys won let’s skip
ahead fifty years and that’s one teen
scene and adults really burst onto the
national scene 1957 nineteen Agers
fourteen fifteen sixteen year olds they
enrolled in a in a little high school in
Arkansas they’re the first black kids
ever in that school one girl had acid
thrown into her eyes and other flaming
pieces of paper dropped onto her from
above while she is in the bathroom
they were spat on they were called the
worst names in the English language and
they were just I mean absolutely hated
and they later became known as the
Little Rock Nine
so teens were instrumental in in the
civil rights movement the Green was
arrested in the march on Washington
Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama in
Birmingham children were tear gassed
attacked by dogs and blasted with fire
hoses now let’s go even further taking a
few more years 1970 Kent State
University this time protests over the
Vietnam War unarmed students were killed
tear gassed and abused by police
protesting the Vietnam War now let’s
skip ahead to more decades right two
more decades this time Tiananmen Square
and Tiananmen Square I don’t know if you
guys know this but that there were there
are estimated hundred thousand students
there protesting to check the censorship
laws in China as well as communism there
and you know a couple thousand soldiers
they’re armed with tanks and rifles they
opened fire on those kids and thousands
were estimated to be killed and now two
decades
two decades later 2018 we’re at the
present parkland Florida let’s look at
that example right survivors of a
massacre were called quote child or
excuse me
crisis actors a candidate for Maine
State Legislature called Emma Gonzales a
quote skin
lesbian right so I’ve read this as
conclusion that you know a lot of adults
aren’t gonna like and that’s that adults
love to talk the talk but they just they
hate to walk the walk what do I mean by
this teens and youth or Harold is
brilliant passionate optimistic but it
seems that whenever they try to put
those talents to use they’re just shot
down by any means necessary by adults
sometimes quite literally let’s take for
example Malala she was heralded as you
know the girl who’s gonna bring
education to millions of poor girls
around the world she was literally shot
in the face by the Taliban and so this
brings me back to the question I asked
earlier how do we overcome those
institutionalized barriers to progress
and like before the answer is quite
simple first we need to recognize the
movements I mentioned earlier they were
all successful civil rights Vietnam even
Tiananmen Square – to an extent my point
is at the core we need to have hope that
our efforts will be successful second we
need to view democracy not as a
once-a-year engagement on election day
but a daily activity that requires
active not passive participation all
right asshole so how do I engage in
democracy every day simple things you
know reading the news listening to the
radio if anyone does that anymore
signing a petition talking to government
officials you know learning about the
basic structure of our government I
can’t stress this enough guys listening
to other people’s opinions debate is
elementary to democracy and by limiting
your worldview only to the bubble that
Facebook or Twitter creates not only
just feeds that confirmation bias but
adds to that polarization that we
established was the main problem in the
first place and so finally if we’re
gonna go out if we’re gonna as the youth
try to affect change we need a protest
with the purpose what does that mean
pick an issue gather support and don’t
stop until you get what you want quite
simple
all too often protests are devoid of
clear messaging characterized by
incomplete organization and as a result
failed to galvanize the public support
needed to spur the action and so that
brings me to that last example that I
mentioned you know here today 2018
talking Florida at March for our lives
moment isn’t making these mistakes and
that’s what makes me so optimistic that
this time we will see real change all
the actions taken the tweets the
petitions the protests the rallies on
CNN you know screaming they’re all
singularly focused on invigorating the
public for elections they have a clear
message a central organization and they
are ruthless and leaving behind anything
that deviates from their goal and from
this I’ve learned we need we need more
diverse youth in them in running for
office actually and adults not
discounting the potential that we teens
have to change the world and finally an
empowerment among kids that their
opinions matter be the change you wish
to see in the world thank you so much
for sticking around my name is Ashe
we’ll have a go on [Applause]
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