No matter what side of the political spectrum you fell on this year, it’s safe to say that the 2020 Election was all-consuming. No matter where I turned, I was bombarded with information about voting, registering, mail-in ballots and texts from different campaigns. It’s true, however, that I signed myself up to be in the thick of it; for the past three months, I worked for a non-profit organization devoted to engaging young voters in the election process. Basically, I lived and breathed all things election. When it was all over, I thought I’d be relieved. But what I was left with was dread, and a loaded question: what’s next?
During the incredibly divisive 2016 election, I was a sophomore in high school with no real political power. I wasn’t old enough to vote, let alone drive and I’d never held a job before. But after the panic and dread that I and many of my peers felt in November of 2016, we flung ourselves into political activism. Over the next four years, I found myself interning for a grassroots political action group, working for a congressional campaign and most recently as a fellow organizing youth voters. Between each experience, there were thousands of phone calls to constituents, countless texts, doors knocked and conversations that ended in being cursed out and hung up on. I went to college and started learning more about political science and the roots of social activism, only to find many students in a similar position as myself.
For many young people, the last four years have been our origin story of why we’re involved in politics. Besides the 2016 election, the horrific tragedy of the Parkland school shooting in 2018 became a catalyst for student movement. The Parkland shooting resulted in March for Our Lives, a nationwide, non-partisan organization led by young people for gun safety. More recently, the murder of George Floyd by police in the spring of this year opened the eyes of many Americans to the long-standing reality of police brutality. Again, we saw young people take to the streets, with the message becoming more focused as the months went on: this year, we vote.
And vote we did. Already, as ballots continue to be counted, it’s clear that young people played a larger role than ever in the political process. Despite this success, it’s hard to imagine what happens next.
It seems as if almost every action that was organized over the last four years pointed to voting in this election. It felt at times that if we could bring decency and honesty back to the White House, all would be right in the world. And yet when the election was called by major media outlets this past Saturday, I didn’t react the way I expected to. I watched people cry tears of joy and dance in the street, and my phone was flooded with texts and posts of happiness and congratulations for all the work we’d put in.
Rather than reveling in the moment I’d waited four years for, I felt lost. Most obviously, the election was my job. For campaign workers, our jobs are always temporary. We spend months working for a campaign, longing for the day when our candidate hopefully wins. Yet in the back of our minds, we also know that whatever the outcome, we’ll be left searching for new work in an uncertain world. The coworkers who became friends along the way will be off on new adventures, and it’s safe to say that change is hard.
More importantly, I felt consumed by a fear that people would be ready to become complacent again. So many young people have become activists in the past few years, mainly with the goal of showing up to the polls in 2020. The reality, however, is that this election hasn’t solved everything. The evils that plague our country, such as systemic racism, economic inequality and the ever-worsening climate crisis, are still real and tangible for so many Americans. If the past four years have taught me anything, it’s that a single candidate or president-elect has never solved these problems, and this year is no different. Along my journey I’ve learned harsh truths about America that I can’t unlearn, and I can only hope this passion for activism doesn’t burn out for those around me.
So for now, take a few deep breaths. If you have the privilege of enjoying a moment of relief from the constant stress of the last four years, take it. Dance in the street, retweet all the memes and take a break from watching 24/7 news coverage. But then, remember this fight is not over. Successful organizing can take decades before real change happens. We won’t be lost for long, as this is not the end of a movement, it’s only the beginning.