“Really, what I’m trying to say is that in the U.S., youth empowerment must not just be about empowering young people to face their own oppression in their communities, but also to build up a radical, movement-based sense of themselves and organizing in solidarity with youth who are fighting their own oppression on a global scale.”

This is a powerful question. What are some ways that youth in the US could organize in solidarity?

“This means that within our moments of ‘that’s so messed up’ we also have moments of recognition of . . .how they can use that structural privilege to fight against imperialism.”

Another powerful question.

I don’t know that I have any answers, but asking the right questions is a good thing.

That’s a really good point and suggestion, which I agree with completely. It makes a lot of sense, but it’s tough because it is from the place of frustration that this observation first came up, so it can be a challenge to check myself and go the more positive, movement building route.

I think you’re asking good questions, but I think there’s two ways to look at it – focus on the differences and try to get the kids to see their privilege, or focus on commonalities and show examples of kids elsewhere organizing to fight oppression. I think the latter builds a better sense of solidarity – don’t hide the differences and relative privilege, but show that they can learn from and be empowered by other people’s struggles. And likewise they can pay back their debt to historical struggles by continuing the struggle and connecting and supporting others.

If a student comes to you about a problem they’re facing, rather try to build understanding and solidarity by responding “you think *you* have it bad… let me tell you…”, instead respond with “man, that’s so messed up. That reminds me of these kids from X, a few years back, who did Y and won, and here’s how they did it.” That leads to a discussion of the different situations, and how the situations and struggle determined the strategy and tactics, both in their similarities and differences. I think that can lead to the kids gaining an awareness of relative privilege in a direct way without distracting from a sense of commonality and solidarity.