David Segal wrote an interesting article in the Washington Post about today's youth and the lack of activism. In the article, he draws comparison between the activism during the Iraq War and the Vietnam War. He then goes on to ask the following question, "When was the last time you saw a street protest?" If memory serves right, I recall two major protests which took part this year and last year. One of them occurred on February 15th which had 6-10 thousand participants. There was also another protest in September which I attended that took place in Washington.That particular protests had 100,000 participants. There have been over 50 protest against the war in Iraq since 2002. Clearly, the American people are not lacking in activism. There are numerous websites, groups on campuses, and various non-governmental organizations that are trying to put an end to this war.Therefore, it would be wrong to assume that the American people are politically unaware. One reason one may get that idea is because these protests do not receive the proper attention from the media. Anything relating to revolution or change is automatically dismissed in the media. Newspapers don't do a very well job of covering protests either. The other thing I disagree with was the poor example that Segal used when he talked about Rick Ross being this generation's rebel leader. This was a bad choice on his part because Rick Ross does one genre music which is mainstream. Segal should have done better research and picked better examples of artists such as Immortal Technique, Rage Against, the Machine and Nas. Those are the artists whose music are more political and therefore best fits the title of our generation's rebels. The size of the protests fluctuate but they're always happening regardless.
Where Have All the Protests Gone?
http://www.washingtonpost.
