Youth Activism in the Millennial Age: Identity, Art, and Personal Narrative

• In Event: 553 - Section on Race, Class and Gender Paper Session. Creating Change: Race, Gender, Class and the Politics of the Arts and Performance

Abstract

This paper reviews literature located at the intersection of youth activism and the politics of the arts and performance. This theoretical framework provides a context for, and sheds light on, how young adults are doing activism through performance poetry, which is similar to and different from previous activist approaches. While this personalized style of social justice activism may seem to be an extension of millennials’ alleged selfie-obsessed narcissism, on closer examination, young people’s spoken word practices can elucidate both the personally intimate forms of activism we might overlook, and the depth of hashtag activist movements like BlackLivesMatter today. A consideration of this literature review encourages scholars of social change to think about the ways poets’ intensely personalized approach to politics, through such mechanisms as “radical healing” and “speaking individual truth,” can expand our understandings of activism and social justice outcomes.

Author

• Valerie L. Chepp, Hamline University