Young people in Appalachia are being shaped in an era fraught with political unrest, surrounded by almost insurmountable global issues that will shape the world they inherit. But all at once, they are expected to both save the world and care far less about things too serious for them to understand. Here, we give young Appalachians space to think out loud, examine and amplify issues they know are impacting their identities, their communities and, by extension, their politics.
My professors knew my class work would start to lag behind the closer we got to Election Day. Every semester, I make it a point to let my professors know that the work I do as a journalist comes first. And this semester, my class work lagged behind for good […]
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High school and college students are becoming more politically active than our country has seen in generations. It’s people under the age of 18 who have led marches on Washington to end gun violence in schools and called on our leaders to take real action toward slowing climate change and […]
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As part of the Appalachian Youth Creators Project, we’re committed not just to young people telling their own stories, but doing so through the mediums that feel most honest and relevant to them. So much of this powerful storytelling comes not just through the voices of young people, but the […]
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“Seven years, 103 days, 15 hours, 40 minutes, and 7 seconds,” read a clock in New York City mid-afternoon on September 19th. It was a countdown until the estimated date when the effects of climate change on the planet become irreversible: the end of 2027. In 2027, I’ll be 24 […]
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Over the course of the last few years, I’ve had conversations with dozens of young people about everything from activating peers to be politically engaged in politically-apathetic areas, to the importance of student voice in schools, to the urgency of the youth vote. I always try to conclude those interviews […]
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