Not a day will go by when a person doesn’t disagree with something happening in the world. In the past, women were not allowed to speak their minds. They were often criticized and judged if done so. However, as the years have passed, women have gained more power and respect. As our generation starts going to college and entering the workforce, many women are beginning to make substantial changes to things we’ve disagreed with. I have compiled a list of a few young women who have accomplished a lot and are continuing to improve the world.
- Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg is a 20-year-old Swedish environmental activist. Thunberg focuses on the effects of climate change on the environment. Thunberg’s original goal was for lawmakers to acknowledge climate change and to begin addressing it. To do so, Thunberg missed almost three weeks of school to sit outside the Swedish parliament building. After the election, she returned to school, but would regularly miss days to protest. This was the start of her Friday for Future movement, also known as School Strike for Climate. Since her start in activism, she has spoken at many events all over the world. Thunberg also focuses on raising awareness about Autism and Asperger syndrome because she suffers from it herself.
2. Nina Gualinga
Nina Gualinga is a 29-year-old Ecuadorian environmental and indigenous rights activist. Gualinga primarily focuses conservation on the Amazon rainforest. While habitat and food source are essential parts of the Amazon rainforest, it is also home to many indigenous cultures. When she was 18, she represented indigenous youth at the Inter-American Court of Human rights, advocating against oil drilling on indigenous land. Now, she advocates internationally for indigenous rights and a fossil fuel-free economy.
3. Amika George
Amika George is 23 years old and advocates against period poverty in the United Kingdom. George founded FreePeriods at the age of 17. FreePeriods is a global campaign to end period poverty or the struggle many low-income women and girls face when they cannot afford menstrual products. Her campaign was also to better educate males about periods and female anatomy. The goal was to remove the stigma often placed around periods. Her campaign was successful. In fact, her campaign persuaded the UK government to allocate funding that would allow free menstrual products in all English schools and colleges.
4. Emma “X” Gonzalez
Emma “X” Gonazalex is a 23-year-old American activist. As a survivor of the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, Gonzalez advocates for gun control. After the shooting, a group of survivors came together to begin advocating. Gonzalez made media appearances speaking about her trauma and how no other students should be subjected to the same trauma. In addition, she also helped to organize the March for Our Lives, the biggest student-led protest to date.
5. Marley Dias
Marley Dias, now 18, began advocating at ten years old when she noticed a lack of representation in the books she was reading at school. In response, she started to gather books that had more representation. For this round, she decided to college 1,000 books, all of which the main character was a black girl. Dias chose to send these books to a school in Jamaica rather than donate them to her own school. “She made this decision because although schools in Jamaica are predominantly black, the books in the schools aren’t representative of that.”She has continued her activism and has even gone on to write a book herself.