Photo Courtesy of newtimesslo.com
Over the past couple of years, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown, the community of San Luis Obispo has seen many accounts of activism. From protests and rallies to marches, San Luis Obispo residents are staying involved in their community’s progress.
Many students throughout the county including the students of San Luis Obispo High School have attended these events, sharing their experiences and about certain issues in today’s world.
“Largely I have seen a lot of connections and organizing happening online. While this can be a real game-changer for raising mutual aid funds or reaching a wider audience quickly, it’s important for us to remember, for real change to happen, we must take it beyond social media.” said local community organizer Karissa Hamblet.
In SLO, our community is very active and involved in voicing their opinions. Many are youth activists. Most of Gen Z uses social media. It’s an outlet where they can share their opinions with just the click of a button. Whether that’s posting negative comments or sharing things that may be hurtful to others, anyone can post anything to the public in seconds.
However, word on the street and through schools is also a huge outlet itself to get more people to speak up and show up regarding certain issues. Ideas and connections created in physical conversations outweigh unreliable online communication
“I have been to several protests and marches. The environment is typically unified, with everyone working together for a goal. It’s usually high energy when needed, and solemn when talking about hard topics. There is typically a lot of youth there, but I think the percentage could be a lot higher. The youth that is there are very passionate though.” said Freshman Annika Miltner.
Lots of the youth in our community are involved in activism. However, there could be more and it’s so easy for us to just simply reach out to others.
“We don’t need more people out for the glory, we need more people doing the hard work it takes to make long-term, systemic changes. Staying aware of what is happening within your school, speaking up, and reaching out to trusted adults for support when you see things going on that need to be changed – this is what we need,” said Hamblet.
Tigers! Whether you see your peers discriminating against others, or they’re discriminating against you, speak up. The world needs more kind humans in it, and to be honest, it’s not hard at all.
