GenZ on #BLM: How They Feel and What They’re Doing
Jennifer Openshaw and Petal Modeste lead a conversation of nearly 100 GenZ girls about #BLM
By Jody Bell
George Floyd was lying on the ground with a police officers’ knee pressed into his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
These antagonizing moments were shared, on video, for all of the world to see and what resulted was a resurgence of a movement against systemic racism -- currently called the Black Lives Matter movement.
For one generation, this has been one of the biggest social movement of their lives. They are GenZ, a generation already engulfed in activism, and now, they are ready to effect, improve, and change the system that killed Floyd.
Jennifer Openshaw, CEO of the entrepreneurship Academy Girls With Impact, brought together nearly 100 young girls from across the country to talk about this movement.
In a discussion moderated by Petal Modeste, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Administration at Columbia Law School, and host of Parenting for the Future Podcast, these young women were able to delve into the uncomfortable conversations that are absolutely crucial to understanding systemic racism.
As Modeste points out “how much power a lie has if it goes unchecked -- a lie to justify the genocide of Native Americans, a lie to justify the enslavement of Black African people, a lie to justify that certain races are superior to others.”
When presented with his realization that these powerful lies still have a grip on our country, how does GenZ -- a generation defined by justice, action, and truth -- react?
What Does the Death of George Floyd Mean for GenZ?
For many young people not directly affected by racism, George Floyd’s death was a wakeup call.
They did not live through the Civil Rights movement, nor the tension that followed it. They lived through the presidency of America’s first Black president -- an era of shrouded belief that racism was a thing of the past. Now, the revival of a movement that opens their eyes to the dark aspects of modern American racism has struck this activist generation- and they’re ready to get to work.
How Are They Processing This Movement? What Do They Feel?
Every young person is affected by this death of Floyd.
For Kayli Joy Cooper, 15 – who she sits and scrolls through her social media page flooded with videos of police brutality being brought to light -- describes the mental toll this took on her as a young Black woman.
Kayli realized that the Black, law-abiding, individuals who died due to racism “could’ve been my brother, my dad.”
For our White students, they are beginning to understand this bubble that they have been living in. As Black voices are amplified, and the stories of those affected by police brutality are finally heard, and this bubble is popped. Jody Bell, 18, says: “I’m not part of this community...and the first thing I really noticed was my ignorance around this topic...and honestly this sense of guilt that I feel after growing up so ignorant.” For people like Jody, this guilt has lit a fire in her, and she spent time on the call asking her peers how she can better educate herself.
How is GenZ Furthering Their Understanding of This Topic?
As Modeste pointedly asked the audience: “How do we make sure that more people know and understand systemic racism even though they don’t feel the impacts of it every day?”
To answer this, many are turning to education, and due to COVID-19, they are spending hours at home doing so. Here are a few ways that GenZ has been furthering their understanding of systemic racism during quarantine.
Utilizing streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix that are currently boosting Black-made content that discusses these topics/experiences.
Cultivating their social media pages as to expose, consume, and share topics related to the movement.
Speaking to friends with different racial identities to recognize how their experiences and identities differ.
Having hard conversions with family/friends that have different opinions and may need some help pointing out the data available that proves the existence of systemic racism.
What Are They Doing to Take Action?
While spending time understanding the topic and having these hard conversations is essential, there are some girls who have taken a more action engulfed approach.
Minerva Sharma, 16, is one of those girls. She spent the summer communicating with her local school board and pushing for a more diversified curriculum. Others, such as Kristen St. Louis, 17, are taking matters completely into their own hands -- leveraging social entrepreneurship and innovation to amplify Black voices. St. Louis is CEO of Mirror Me Diversity, “a platform where diverse stories are told.” She points out that growing up, she didn’t see her experiences reflected by the White authors she was reading; thus, she felt inspired to release a platform that purposely focuses on these untold stories.
What’s Next?
To parents, educators, and employers, do not be afraid of hard conversations.
These young people are diving headfirst into this issue -- opening their eyes to a matter that is uncomfortable. Allow them to try and change curriculums, local policies, and start ventures that battle this. These ideas and initiatives are not outlandish for this generation. It is your job to be ready to listen, support, and maybe change your opinions along the way.
To my fellow GenZ activists -- keep fighting and keep learning. Some of us are just being exposed to this topic, and as St. Louis puts it, we must focus on “unlearning our own biases” and supporting one another as we do so.
This is our fight now, and as Modeste puts it, “We are depending on you more than we have depended on any other generation.
Jody Bell, 18, is Girls With Impact’s Chief Editor and a program graduate. Girls With Impact is the nation's only entrepreneurship program for teen girls, turning them into tomorrow's business leaders and innovators.