Youth Protests in America

AMERICA

THE BASICS

A major theme within American Idiot is the theme of revolution - Green Day was rebelling against the social norms of the nation, and calling out the problems in order to bring awareness to them and hopefully change them. Within the past two decades, multiple protests across the nation have been led by the youth of our country in hopes of taking a step towards progress.

THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT

Starting in 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement aimed to fight back against major banks, corporations, and richest 1% of people, as well as the role of Wall Street in the greatest recession in generations. It began when Justine Tunney took initiative and organized a call to action based on a publication by Micah White in Adbusters magazine.
In a HuffPost piece entitled "Generation Debt at the Barricades," Generation Debt author Anya Kamenetz states that the Occupy Movement is a "manifestation of young people finally getting fed up with the unsustainable combination of huge student loan debt and shrinking job opportunities the system created by older generations has offered them."
The Occupy Movement may not have singlehandedly dismantled capitalism, but it has without a doubt affected the way wealth is viewed in this country.

DAPL MOVEMENT

The One Mind Youth Movement was created in South Dakota by Jasilyn Charger to help other teenagers on her reservation who dealt with drugs and abuse. The youth group protested against the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015, and when the Obama State Department denied the pipeline access, the youth group moved their focus to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation where the Dakota Access Pipeline would transfer oil beneath the Missouri River, the main source of drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux.
“The youths came to believe that the Dakota pipeline was not only a threat to their drinking water but also a harbinger of the larger environmental crisis their generation was set to inherit.” Their “prayer camp” developed into a movement that united farmers and urban environmentalists alike to defend the land against the pipeline.

MARCH FOR OUR LIVES

In February 2018, a school shooting in Parkland, Florida sparked one of the biggest calls for gun reform by the youth of America. Children across the country said enough to gun violence, and led by the students of Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, have organized walk-outs and marches in order to reform gun laws in America to prevent further school shootings and gun violence elsewhere.
On March 24, 2018, “March for Our Lives,” a student-led demonstration, took place in Washington, D.C. and cities across the country in support of stricter gun control.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Black Lives Matter - In 2013, three women, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, created the political movement #BlackLivesMatter in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the police officer who murdered Trayvon Martin. #BLM was developed in support of all black lives and continues to amplify anti-black racism across the country in numerous forms.
This is one of the most well-known movements throughout the country, and it is likely due to the online presence of protestors as well as the unfortunate continuous deaths of innocent black people.

#METOO MOVEMENT

The #MeToo Movement was founded in 2006 to help sexual abuse survivors, and recently the viral hashtag has brought forth a necessary conversation about the proliferation of sexual abuse and the stigma of survivors. While the movement was not founded by youth, many young people have been vocal within the movement and spreading awareness.
In 2017, Olympic gymnasts and more than 150 other women brought forth allegations of sexual assault and abuse against their former team doctor Larry Nassar.
Allegations in late 2017 surrounding Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men in Hollywood sparked the Time’s Up Movement, which similar to the #MeToo movement, serves to hold abusers and the like accountable in order to create a safer environment for women.