Youth activism: The crucial role of family support

By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com

Youth of today are increasingly engaged in political and social issues — from animal rights to gun violence prevention. While their passions are large and have proven to be immensely effective, youth cannot do it all on their own. 

Young changemakers Genesis Butler, founder of Youth Climate Safe; Aalayah Eastmond, an organizing manager and spokesperson for Brady: United Against Gun Violence; and Marley Dias, creator of the #1000BlackGirlBooks, recently spoke with the AFRO about the role their families have played in their advocacy journeys.

Genesis Butler, animal rights and environmental activist

Butler, 18, is an environmental and animal rights activist. She is also one of the youngest ever to give a Technology, Entertainment and Design (TEDx) talk, a grassroots initiative to give local communities the opportunity to discuss unique concepts and perspectives.

Her passion for animal rights began at the age of three, and by six she decided to go full vegan. Butler credited her ability to follow her beliefs to her parents’ support.

“When I told her that I wanted to go vegetarian, my mom fully supported me, and we went to the grocery store,” said Butler, an Afro-Indigenous woman. “We would search for any plant-based options that I might want. My whole family accepted me and they gradually went vegan with me.”

Butler is the oldest of five siblings. 

“My mom and my dad got rid of all animal products in the house and switched over to vegan products,” said Butler. “I’m really lucky to have such a great support system.”

Butler said her mom, Genelle Palacio, has been an extra support for her throughout this journey.  

“Whenever I travel for speaking or for activism, she always comes with me, or if I need help with something activism-wise she’ll help me, or if I need any advice,” said Butler. “She’s always there for me.”

Butler said her mom also really helps keep her grounded in prioritizing self-care.

“I’m an empath, so there’s always so much energy that I’m taking in with being in the public eye, being on social media or in the news,” she said. “My mother has always taught me about why it’s so important to make sure that if I’m feeling burned out, I should take a break, or if there’s too much on my schedule, that I should space the tasks out, so that I’ll have time to rest.”

A study by Dr. Leslie Carmel Gauditz, a research associate at the Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg Institute for Sociology in Germany, identifies burnout as one of the biggest challenges activists face, with the potential to weaken both their personal commitment and the overall impact of a movement.

Butler went on to create Youth Climate Save, a youth-led environmental organization that aims to address the connection between animal agriculture and climate change, in 2020. She continues to be an advocate for animal rights today through her organization.

Aalayah Eastmond, anti-gun violence activist

Eastmond, 24, is a 2019 graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

On Feb. 14, 2018, she was in the third classroom that was targeted by a gunman. Two of her classmates were shot and killed near her. The tragic incident claimed the lives of 17 students and staff members.

Eastmond shared that if it was not for the encouragement of her mother to speak on her experience as a gun violence survivor, she might not be where she is today in activism.

“Honestly, my mom is the one who pushed me into advocacy because after the shooting, I didn’t want to speak out,” said Eastmond, a gun violence prevention activist. “I wanted to stay in my own cocoon and deal with my trauma. But, my mom felt like my experience at my high school could potentially save another child’s life.”

Eastmond said her mom, Stacy-Ann Llewellyn, has been by her side in this activism journey ever since. 

“I went on the show called ‘Megyn Kelly,’ for my first national appearance and my mom actually went on the show with me. We both shared our experiences,” said Eastmond. “My dad is a little more reserved and he’s not a huge fan of his kids being in a public-facing environment and dealing with all that judgment, but he has not told me not to do it. He’s seen the amazing outcomes and opportunities that have come from my advocacy.”

She added, “Having my mom there to go through that experience with me and make sure I wasn’t being taken advantage of really helped me through that journey.” 

Eastmond has been especially vocal about the chronic gun violence crisis that disproportionately impacts young African Americans, including her uncle who was shot and killed in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the age of 18.

According to the organization Brady: United Against Gun Violence, for which Eastmond is an organizing manager and spokesperson, 60 percent of annual firearm homicides involve Black people, who make up only about 14 percent of Americans. Black youth 17 and under are 13.6 times more likely than their White peers to be killed by firearm homicide.

Eastmond shared how having her mother’s support helped her heal.

“As far as dealing with the triggers, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder it’s a journey we both go on together,” said Eastmond. “While I was home, especially my senior year, it was something we figured out together. There’s no book on how to survive a school shooting or how to support your child through one. It’s always been an ongoing journey of figuring it out together.”

Marley Dias, equal representation activist

Dias, 20, is a student activist and writer hailing from West Orange, N.J. She currently attends Harvard University, where she writes for The Harvard Crimson.

She is largely known for her viral #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign that she launched at the age of 11, via the GrassROOTS Community Foundation, an advocacy organization that her mother co-founded. 

From a young age, Dias was concerned about the lack of representation in the books she read in school. Her mother, Dr. Janice Johnson Dias, helped turn that frustration into action. 

“When I talked to my mom about not seeing Black girls reflected in my classroom’s reading list, she asked me a very important question that often gets overlooked: What are you going to do about it?” said Dias. “She gave me that immediate agency.”

Dias said her mother always gave her the language to understand that the issues she experienced as a young Black girl in schools were not her fault, and in that moment, encouraged her to do something about it. 

Dias credits all she’s been able to accomplish with the book campaign and her other activism efforts to the GrassROOTS Community Foundation. 

As part of the foundation’s young leadership summer camp for Black girls, Dias created a social action project that became the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign—an effort that went viral and launched her global activism.

Her campaign has since collected over 15,000 books, changing the conversation around equal representation in youth literature.

Alongside her other commitments, she continues to serve as the National Education Association’s national ambassador for their “Read Across America” campaign and on the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s National Racial Equity Initiative Advisory Board. 

Speaking from a young person’s perspective, Dias shared advice for parents who want to support their child’s passions but may feel unsure about where or how to begin.

“Watch the old movies together,” said Dias. “Show them the retro videos. Be that intergenerational link. The more that we show that history is rhyming, the more we show people that there’s agency. There is nothing different between us and the people that stood up in 1960 and got hosed down, bitten by dogs and suffered for justice.”