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Spoken Word Response To ‘The Youth Of Today Are The Leaders Of Tomorrow’ by Vempoijala Trief

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Rising seas

Plastic Pollution

Necks under knees

Digital Evolution

 

We want you to say her name

Women to be the same

You see, fishes are dying

And black mothers are crying 

 

You can call us liars

But those Australian fires

If you couldn’t tell

Seemed like they were sent from hell

 

Look, what i’m trying to say

Is that this world has many a problem

And i don’t know we’re gonna solve ‘em

But what i do know is

 

WE

The youth of today

Will be the ones to save the day

You’ll see

 

Because WE

Will be the ones making decisions

Amending divisions

You’ll see

 

WE will be the leaders of our future

We will nurture change

Not just sit in a cage

 

Because WE

Know that this world isn’t just ours

It’s yours, it’s our children’s, it’s our grandchildrens

So we better make it better

 

We the Youth

Are the future leaders, that’s the truth

But we don’t wanna wait till it’s too late

So today we start to change our fate

 

Look, for example, at Greta Thunberg

Like the rest of us, she knows the world is an iceberg

We’re nearly at our melting point

So she makes a point

Of challenging world leaders to start addressing our changing climate

Showing us that no more should we be quiet

 

Look at Naomi Osaka

A young and gifted athlete

Using her platform to tell the world what matters

Yes, Black Lives Matter

 

Look at Melati and Isabel Wijsen

These sisters were only teens

When they helped Bali say ‘bye bye’ to plastic bags

What queens

 

Let their actions be a testimony

That regardless of age

We can begin a new page

And create a NEW chapter worth fighting for

A new chapter we can ALL benefit from

 

This is no tom-foolery 

Understand that we have the ability

To create and initiate change

We HAVE center stage.

 

So let’s light it up

And speak up

Before our time is up

 

The Youth of Today Are the Leaders of Tomorrow

But we are running out of time

So let’s make our future now

The time is now

 

Thank you.

 

We Are The Youths That Will Be Leaders Of Tomorrow.

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A wise man who goes by the name Nelson Mandela once quoted  “Youths of Today are the Leaders of tomorrow.” We are the youths, we are the future, we are the generation that will move forward. Youth is the most influential generation of this century. Born and raised in the digital age, we have the power to shape this world with our ideas and contributions. This is a powerful responsibility, one that we take very seriously. We are aware of all the major problems our society faces: climate change, violence, poverty…

Our generation is more than capable of taking this great responsibility and is already finding ways to solve these problems. Greta Thunberg, I bet that name might ring a bell to a few of you. In 2018 when Greta was only 15, she skipped school to sit outside the Parliament holding up a sign which wrote school strike for climate change.

Malala Yousafza spoke out about the prohibition of girls education, she was only 11 years old. And others like Yara shahidi, Jazz jennings, Isra Hirsi,hasan zafar, Marli Diaz,joshua williams, avi schiffman and So much more.

We, the youth of Today have so much power, Gen Z, our Generation. Unlike past generations we have the right to let our voices be heard, to speak up about concerning issues. Statistics from the UN shows that there are about 1.2 billion youths all around the world, that’s about one sixth of the global population. We are the highest number of youths in history. Imagine how much we could change society  if every youth found a way to speak up, if every youth let their voices be heard. We have the ability, the mindset and the skills. Believe it or not, youths are capable of solving concerning issues like poverty, unemployment, equality, hunger and violence. Youths have already started changing the world, one issue at a time. Climate change, women’s rights, the rights to vote and equal education.

Looking in this room I see young people with a lot of potential, aspirations, intelligence and passion. So how could you as a young individual do your part? And I’m not telling you to go and find a new planet for us to escape to. But to do little things to help your community.

  1. Volunteer, oftentimes we have some natural disasters and you can help volunteer to aid those who are in need.
  2. Spread awareness, I’m sure most of you in this class have social media. One way to use it is to help spread awareness about what is going on in the world.
  3. Petitions, sign or create. Although they may be looked down upon, they help to get a lot more issues notices.
  4. Contribute, let your voice be heard. Speak what you think.
  5. And lastly Donate or charity. These help a lot of underprivileged people.

Remember small things make a big difference, besides it only takes a small pin to burst a big balloon.

The Hill We Climb. Amanda Gorman Inspires The Youth Of Today To Become Leaders Of Tomorrow.

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“You are never too young to lead and you should never doubt your capacity to triumph where others have not” – Kofi Annan. We, the youths of today, have so much potential which we can use to lead as the leaders of tomorrow. A great leader who exhibits this is Amanda Gorman.

Amanda Gorman is a 23-year-old American poet and activist known for her powerful poems about oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization. Gorman is an inspiration as she overcame speech and auditory processing challenges to end up performing one of her poems at the U.S presidential ceremony of President Biden early this year, 2021. Gorman courageously delivered her ‘The Hill We Climb’ poem that messages about hope, unity, healing, and resilience for America. She made a positive change that encouraged others to grasp opportunities and pursue their dreams despite the challenges faced. This positive change benefits aspiring poets, disabled people, people of color, and young women, including us, youths, to make our dreams a reality.

Born and raised by a single mother in Los Angeles along with a brother and her twin, Amanda Gorman developed a great love for poetry in third grade. Gorman developed an auditory processing disorder that caused a speech impediment after experiencing chronic ear infections when she was a baby. Despite being unable to pronounce certain consonants and sounds clearly, Gorman was determined to succeed no matter what. At the age of 16, Amanda Gorman became the Los Angeles youth poet laureate in 2014. A year later, she published her first poetry book, The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough. In 2017, she became the first young poet to open the Library of Congress’s literary season. In the same year, whilst studying sociology at Harvard College, where she graduated from in 2020, Gorman was selected as the first National Youth Poet Laureate of the U.S at the age of 19. She later rose to fame in 2021 after reading her ‘The Hill We Climb’ poem at Biden’s inauguration ceremony and is currently focusing on her career.

In 2016, Amanda Gorman founded her own non-profit organization called One Pen One Page that promotes youth literacy and leadership. Gorman believes that one kid, one pen and one page can change the world. With over 122 million illiterate youths in the world, according to the UN, One Pen One Page will prevent them from dropping out of school. Gorman aims to empower youths, like us, to use our voice and help eliminate inequality. She reminds us that voices are not meant to remain silent but to be heard. She, as a woman, a youth, a poet, and an activist, echoed the voices of youths around the globe. As the first youngest inaugural poet, Amanda Gorman, amongst many others, proved that age, flaws, color, or gender is irrelevant when change is needed.

In conclusion, Amanda Gorman has empowered, inspired and encouraged us youths to use our potential to shape the future generation. Her disability became her motivation. Her love for poetry became her passion. Her dream became a reality. We, the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow.

Malala Speaks For Us All by Sandra Ieremiah

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There is a problem in our society to which I feel must be addressed. There is a great gap in the way women are seen by the general public and that is prominently seen in the amount of gender-based violence that there is in the world; the difference in human rights and lack of political stance when put in perspective of women holding a position of high political stature – we have not had a female president: that is a fact. If we are undereducated, the generation to come will be in a much worse state when we die. Malala Yousafzai a young Pakistani girl saw a need for change and to such she stood by it with great conviction.

In Afghanistan women and girls are not given the right to be educated the country is held in the iron grip of the Taliban, a terrorist group who are set on a society where men are in power, and women are mindless slaves kept alive only to obey the mans command. Malala wanted an education – defied the rule of her country and wished to be an independent member of society. The terrorists wanted her dead – shot three bullets to her head: all because she wanted an education. Gender based violence occurs on the daily, statistically to every 1 in 3 women. Why should the genetic makeup and biological differences dictate what a woman can and can’t do? Is a man made to be superior to a woman? However, you can say Malala defied death itself: she continued to live and fight for equal opportunities for young girls.

Malala is seen to have a strong conviction in what he deems to be right and to such continues to fight for what she wants. Afghanistan stands as one of the least favorable on the inequality index with the literacy rate for women being among the lowest in the world. Malala she saw a need there for her country to educate its female citizens and she fought for it: she fought those who were against her; religious leaders; political figures; those who did not want an equal ruling or benefitted from the illiteracy of women. Two – thirds of girls in Afghanistan do not go to school and to such it is destructive on the nation as a whole. That is why Malala took action to open the eyes of the government and the outside world that girls are not given the same opportunities as boys.

Malala has seen many hardships, but her battles did not come without their victories. Malala is now 24 years old and has accomplished many great things for the world. She has received many humanitarian medals and one of her most commendable being the Nobel peace prize, she has written a bestselling memoir and is a renowned educational activist. She has been the voice to the voiceless, an advocate where there need be and a helping hand to lift up those who wanted an education and never got to have one – also co-founding a first ever youth delegation in Brussels. Her many accomplishments led to an improvement in the lives of many: but there is much to be done.

Though many have criticized her for going against religion, social norm, and the law – she still chose to fight. This is the influence we have as a young generation, we can make changes no one dared to even consider and because we are young, we will stand upon the shoulder of giants and proclaim our aggrievances and challenge the society we live in today. At the rate of progress that we are making change we will accomplish gender equality in 118 years. The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow and if the steady fall of inequality does not begin to acceleration, then the world we will inherit will lay in the hands of the youth and the proclaiming statement – the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow will hang heavy on our shoulders.