Talk of the Town: Youth Activism and Your Impact

by Gregory Brooks

Clara Tripp has been a social justice activist for most of her life and has recently gotten into phone banking, on top of her current work of fact-checking political articles.

“I’m a very self-motivated person,” activist and social justice advocate Clara Tripp begins. “But the thought of a world I’d want everyone to have has kept me on my path.” At her couch, taking notes during a study hall, Tripp gets on the call during a dewy Wednesday morning. Tripp spent a lot of her free time with activism, and it comes from the way she was brought up. “In my town, there was a local climate strike when I was six, and I think that was my first introduction to activism,” She chuckles at the image of her younger self. “My parents were always trying to get me involved in things and to be aware of the world around me.” She had spent a lot of time participating in climate strikes, political canvassing, and interviews, one of her most notable ones with Michelle Obama.

Being that she’s been doing social justice activism for years, it wouldn’t be surprising if she didn’t want to continue, or she just got tired of it. But to that, she says “You wouldn’t need social justice work if something negative wasn’t happening, and that negativity inspires me to work for change because nobody wants to see that negativity.” Something that always comes to mind for her when she talks about social justice and bringing change is capitalism and the way government powers value money over change, with politicians’ attitudes towards the Green New Deal being an example. “The biggest roadblock in change is valuing money over lives.”

The foil to these money-hungry politicians is the young generations. “Children are generally bolder, so they don’t tend to hesitate,” Tripp speaks from experience. When she had the urge to be an activist, she went out and did it. “As we get older, we’re held back by our self-consciousness, so that’s why the younger people are great for making change.” She sees a lot of people of her generation recognizing what needs to be changed, which gives her hope. “I have to have hope because I know no one will swoop in and save us.”

Tripp knows that every action counts, so even minor things made by anyone can make an impact. In response to being asked about what makes success as an activist, she says, “As long as you’re doing something, you’re already successful.” And Tripp makes a point that once people get involved, they’ll learn the skills they need from experience. “The most important skill is getting out there.”
During a campaign against misinformation, Tripp takes notice of the rampant falsehoods on the internet, especially with misinformation. “Misinformation is major, and that ties into the ignorance.” She recognizes that while the internet can be an extremely useful tool to learn about things, it’s also full of fake news and false info. She knows the importance of being an aware media consumer. “Misinformation is the greatest threat to change.”

“Each generation will educate the next,” Tripp says, with both a positive and negative connotation in mind. She’s aware that this obviously means good things for future generations, but there are also people that constantly stand on the wrong side of change, and that’s being fed to the younger generations.” The lack of change in our present leads to more and repeated problems in our future. Because of this, we as supporters of social justice are obligated to implement change, even for those who stand against it.”

NOTE: 8th graders wrote their own versions of THE NEW YORKER’S Talk of the Town this year.