My semi-controversial piss-you-off post for the week [View All]

The last time I posted this message, maybe a year and a half ago, I got a lot of angry responses. Probably it had to do with how I framed it. I'm going to try to do better this time, because it is really really important, and my experiences since then have only reinforced my concerns.

Important Disclaimer: I am not in any way bagging on old people with this post. Read that several times.

OK

Since June of 2003, I have given speeches at least once in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, California, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada, Iowa, Ohio, New York and a whole crapload of western European countries. In most of these places, I have spoken more than twice. Locally, it happens at least once a month.

In far too many instances, I have seen that the organizers, participants and audience members are well above 50 years old. Most of the serious activists I have met are at least 60, if not older.

Read my Important Disclaimer again. The efforts of these people have been extraordinary.

But as Kennedy said, "We are all mortal." As a 33-year-old activist, I am staring down the barrel of a frightening truth: Within the next 15 years, a substantial portion of the bedrock organizing badasses in the progressive activist community is going to pass away, or become too old to kick ass the way they are now.

I saw it again last night. Gave a speech in Concord, MA. I was the youngest person in the room by ten years on the short end, and by 40 years on the long end. My audience was a sea of gray hair. Maybe 60% of the time, in the 200,000 miles I have traveled and the 500 speeches I have given, that is what I see.

My point: We need to do whatever we can do to activate younger people to start grabbing the reins of basic activism organization in the next few years. If we don't, we are going to be in bad trouble.

Read my Important Disclaimer one more time. I am NOT talking about the now. I am talking about 2020.

Discuss.