Within the year since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, it is hard to ignore the amount of people who have taken the responsibility to criticize the administration. From the Women’s Marches across the nation and those who protested following the attempts at a travel ban, the past year has shown thousands of people to unite in solidarity. But as 2017 comes to an end, it is imperative for this resistance to keep moving on. However, the energy needs to be transferred.
I remember seeing many friends of mine fired up to go challenge the administration and challenge the growing white supremacy that came with the Trump presidency. And while many of them have held their signs in protest, the time has come to switch to signs for candidates that are running for office.
The most obvious way to move the energy forward is to transfer it towards mobilization. Older generations always seem to write off millennials as being lazy and apathetic to current events. And the election of Donald Trump has proven that claim wrong, through contacting representatives and protesting the destructive policies of the administration.
Similarly, it is just as important to get involved with a campaign. Be it volunteering or pushing to work for the campaign, it is an effective way to reach people with a candidate that supports the issues you care about. And any help that can be contributed to a campaign, be it volunteer or making a donation, can lead to the campaign being successful come Election Day.
And if the decisions made don’t concern your interests or move your community forward, then it can also help to consider running for office. Going into the field can bring the conversation the issues that concern you; the minimum age to run for office (at least in Massachusetts; make sure to look up this information) is eighteen, so the option open for any millennial to foray in a political campaign. Also, the election of Donald Trump has lowered the bar enough; it is easy for you to try and raise the bar.
Despite the lack of an emphasis on protesting the administration going into 2018, these are still in the same spirit. In fact, these steps are similar to what many young activists have been doing in the wake of the Trump administration. The only difference is the fight is taken not to the streets, but to the ballot booth.