Across From UN General Assembly, A Day Full Of Youth Activism And Disability Inclusion

Youth activism has been on an exponential rise in recent years. From the Parkland students who galvanized school students across the country to protest gun violence, to last week’s global climate change demonstrations, young people are pushing government officials and policymakers to ensure a safe and better future.

However, it’s important to note that youth activism has been occurring for decades, despite media’s recent hyperawareness of it. Take WE for an example.

WE was founded by two Canadian brothers, Craig and Marc Kielburger, in 1995 with a mission to fight child labor. WE has since grown and evolved to address the root cause of child labor: extreme poverty. The organization harnesses young people around the world with the tools and education to ignite social change.

WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering domestic and international change, ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences to help support the charity, and WE Day, filling stadiums around the world with the most boisterous celebration of social good.

For the third year in a row, WE Day UN came to the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. The day was filled with around 18,000 youth and educators from the tri-state region, empowering and celebrating youth activism and social good. Taking place during the 74th United Nations General Assembly, WE Day UN was held in partnership with UNAIDS, UN Global Compact and UN Women.

“I look at 18,000 young people who are in this stadium, each one had to earn their entry through service last year just to earn their way to we day,” says Craig Kielburger. “Young people logged a total of 10.5 million volunteer hours of service. And that gives me hope. [Whereas] the leaders of the world can’t seem to make a decision just down the street at the United Nations, young people here are not only learning about issues, but they’re actively leading on so many of these issues.”

An area of lacking in mainstream youth activism and activism, in general, is disability accessibility and inclusion. Marches and rallies too often disregard the needs of protesters with physical disabilities. Also, the voices of people with disabilities are not included in the conversations about the issue at stake. For example, the push to ban plastic straws ignores the need of the physically disabled who cannot drink without straws, and the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements excluded the experiences of women with disability.

But at WE Day UN 2019, disability was fully integrated into conversations and celebrations of youth activism. Craig Kielburger explains, “We want to make sure\that every WE Day always has [the] representation of diverse abilities on stage.”

One of the event’s main speakers was Aaron Philip, the first black, transgender and disabled model to sign for one of the leading modeling agencies, Elite Model Management. Philip has cerebral palsy, and she continues to shatter glass ceilings by mainstreaming disability in the fashion industry. 

Philip said to the sea of thousands of young activists, “I want to see the world move forward in fashion, with messages of inclusivity and equal representation…I want to see that change. I hope to inspire confidence in you to raise your voice, speak up for others, and help play a role in carving space for all types of people, bodies and groups.”

The internationally renowned model explains that the visibility of marginalized groups is the foremost important aspect of activism. “Visibility is a statement within itself. I think that the more statements that are made, the farther it will push change and inclusivity.”

The day’s social media host was Spencer West, a motivational speaker who lost his legs from the pelvis down. “I think it’s cool that I’m seen as a host,” West explains. “So as someone with a physical disability walking on my hands onto the stage, climbing up in the chair and just like [a] normal [person], whatever that word normal actually is… I’m just like being someone visible. It’s like, ‘Oh, cool, this guy doesn’t have any legs. And he just like featuring my tweets up on the big screen.’” 

West has been working with WE for over a decade. He shares that he would’ve liked to see disability being represented at such a large scale when he was growing up. He says, “it would’ve been nice to see someone else like me. I grew up in a small town in Wyoming. That’s where I’m originally from. And you know, there wasn’t a lot of other folks with disability.”

Isaiah Woods is becoming exactly the role model that West describes, but for students struggling with mental illness. Woods has given national attention to the mental health issues in communities of young athletes on college campuses. He uses his platform to lead a national effort to de-stigmatize mental illness among the youth.

“I hope that kids learn from my story just to be themselves, just to be open and don’t ever be afraid to be who you are,” Woods says.

The running theme that wove the three speakers together is the need for disabilities to be a part of the norm. All social justice issues involve and impact people with disabilities, so they deserve a seat at the table just like any else. 

During a time when the world looks at the youth to spark the much-needed change in society and environment, this population also shows an authentic example of diversity and inclusion.

Marc Kielburger believes it’ll be the youth who will come up with ways to fully integrate disability into all kinds of activism and social change. Disability should not be an afterthought, but rather a vital component of all movements and initiatives. 

Source: Forbes.com

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