Report from the Front

By LILLIANA ZAR | Special to the Palisadian-Post

Teen activism is rarely in the spotlight this openly, but when adults are looking to us kids, you know it’s serious.

I stumbled across the March for Science page and emailed in January asking if I could offer any skills to the planning the march. It turned out that I could.

The March for Science is a march not just for our planet, but for our people. It covers a plethora of issues, from climate change and pollution, to our counties here in LA that rank among the top worst air quality in the U.S., and it brings to attention that these communities are bearing the brunt of political indifference.

What I found interesting about the march was the phrase that it is “nonpartisan but not apolitical.” This touches on a point that I found compelling upon joining the march.

What is found to be true by science has always been political, but never partisan. What is meant by this is that these facts will hold true, whether you are a leftist or on the right, but how we implement them in policy turns political, and I don’t necessarily say that with reproach.

In the context of modern issues, the fact that we should address climate change is nonpartisan, because it is fact and has been proven time and time again, but how we do it is political. The march is asking politicians to implement science in policy for the future of our collective world, not for a party.

The undertones of teen activism are some of many layers. Our views are relatively untainted with past events and rivalries, but are nonetheless coming to fruition under times today, which, may I say, are reasonably unique.

Being a teen on the front lines of the march was interesting in that it felt like a community trying to encourage me to rise, take a stand and learn. I’ve come to believe that this is what gives life it’s color, and it’s how we change the world.

Before this year, I was not politically involved. I had a stance on women’s rights and reproductive health, and grew up with Democrats as parents, but apart from that, I really was clueless. In fact, I’m sure me in 10 years will argue that I still am.

I do, however, feel that I am less clueless in this regard: I understand that teen activism is the cradle for the growing child of change. As I write this, Former President Barack Obama gave his first speech in his post-presidency today in Chicago. It solidified my view that it is my and our responsibility to build this cradle, even if the instructions are in hieroglyphs.