We need you. In a very real sense, it is up to you now

Dear Youth of Today,

Nowadays may not be an easy time to be young, but it is a great one because your ideas and your passion for social change can make a real difference to humanity. As a female, Muslim, Egyptian-American, born in the mid-seventies, I faced and continue to face challenges of my own. I attended high school in Australia and when I was in 11th grade, my first day in a political science class was a day I will never forget. The teacher walked in and introduced himself and halfway through his introduction, he told us “I am racist and my whole family is racist!” All the students laughed, including myself. That was February 1990. If my teacher walks in your class today and says the same thing, you will NOT laugh! That’s progress.

After laughing about my teacher’s introduction, I went on to learn about politics and got really intrigued by the history of the Aborigines of Australia to the point that I decided to write my midterm paper about their right to their land. I put a lot of time and effort in writing the paper and was very proud of what I wrote until I saw my grade and it was a “C.” I knew I deserved better than that. I decided to speak up and requested a re-grade by other teachers. Sure enough, my grade was raised to a “B” which I wasn’t entirely happy about, but at least it assured me that bias was a factor in the initial grade I received. Bias against who I was and against what I wrote about.

I immigrated to the US 20 years ago and I’ve heard my share of “go back home” and “take that off” referring to my head scarf, but I never let those incidents affect my identity. I was shaken by each encounter, but I always turned the challenge into an opportunity and tried to find ways to educate people to dispel common stereotypes about people who look like me.

Times have changed and I’m inspired by how your generation has already spoken out forcefully about many issues including protecting the environment, pursuing racial justice, ending gun violence, and treating immigrants and refugees fairly. Your voices will be heard and you will make a difference.

We need you. In a very real sense, it is up to you now. And I am convinced that your brave and clear-sighted generation will steer us to the path of solutions to greater human dignity and positive social change.