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Sen. Barack Obama joined other presidential candidates in fielding questions via iChat from GenGagers in San Jose, California; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Ames, Iowa, on October 27, 2007 GenerationEngage believes in four fundamental principles of action: inform, convene, connect, act. Former President Bill Clinton speaks to Generation Engage founders Devin and Adrian Talbott and Justin Rockefeller at an event at the Ralph Lauren store in New York on October 25, 2005 San Jose Outreach Coordinator Jaime Contreras (foreground) and GenGage members at Googleplex participate in an iChat with Hillary Clinton in Mountain View, California, October 27, 2007 Spike Lee speaks at GenerationEngage's "Civic Engagement through Artistic Expression" forum at P.S.1/MoMA Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City in Queens, New York, June 14, 2006 House Speaker Newt Gingrich meets with GenGage members at the "Morning After" State of the Union iChat at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York (top left), and Wake Tech Community College, North Carolina (top right), February 1, 2006 |
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Despite the laments of pundits every election cycle, young Americans are not apathetic. Yes, we turn out to the polls in lower numbers than our older counterparts. Yes, we test poorly on civic-aptitude tests. However, these are not indications of general apathy, but of more complex issues within our political system.
The problem that faces young people in our current political system is one of access, not of interest. More than half of eighteen- to thirty-year-olds in America have no college experience and thus lack the basic tools of engagement that college campuses provide. Nearly seventy percent of this “forgotten half” is comprised of working professionals, who often take on multiple jobs in a faltering economy while supporting a family.
The root of the problem lies in a self-perpetuating cycle. Young people do not have much money, so politicians don’t seek their contributions. In turn, young people often feel ignored and don’t see politics as relevant to their lives. Thus, they fail to show up at the polls. Politicians notice the low voting numbers and continue to ignore them, completing the unhealthy cycle.
Days after the 2004 presidential election, our frustration with these problems grew to be too much. As a result we cofounded GenerationEngage on three principles:
- Young people suffer not from a lack of interest, but from a lack of access
- Our democracy should be a dialogue, not a monologue
- The best investment we can make in the future of our democracy is in young leaders at the local level
GenerationEngage is reinventing how young people and civic leaders communicate in a few fundamental ways. First, GenGage promotes civic involvement beyond the voting booth and at the local level, employing young leaders as full-time Outreach Coordinators to execute local initiatives independent of election cycles. Second, GenGage utilizes technology, such as iChat videoconferencing tools provided by Apple, Inc., to amplify the collective political voice of marginalized young people. In this way, GenGage connects disparate groups of members in communities across the country to lead interactive conversations with local, national and international leaders. GenGage iChats have been keynoted by former President Bill Clinton; General Colin Powell; former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; former Vice President Al Gore; Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Coretta Scott King; and Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Chuck Hagel, among others. Last, GenGage creates a system of measurement that values a young person’s participation beyond the voting booth. We know that responsible, engaged citizens are not born overnight; they are cultivated over time through substantive involvement in political issues that impact their lives. Each GenGage member completes a quarterly Engagement Survey, which measures demographic makeup, political interests and general level of political participation. We reward our members for completing the online questionnaire by providing ten free iTunes downloads, courtesy of our friends at Apple.
We measure our success by the growing number of young adults (sixteen to thirty years old) who take part in GenerationEngage activities, such as community projects with local partners, HotSpot Forums, iChat conversations and ambassador programs.
We want to help people understand why politics should matter to all Americans. It is undeniable that political debate in our country is shifting off the airwaves. Grassroots organizations like ours are using new technologies to amplify the voice of marginalized groups. In the years ahead, money donated by voters will no longer subsidize the production and dissemination of thirty-second television spots and other one-way advertisements that distort and obfuscate issues and vilify candidates—which, counterproductively, make Americans (and young Americans in particular) cynical about the status quo.
We’re looking to make politics social, fun and relevant with the help of other likeminded people. Visit www.GenerationEngage.org, support our cause on Facebook or reach out to one of our ambassadors in a city near you. To see data on young people and politics, check out the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) at www.civicyouth.org. Get engaged!
Adrian Talbott, Devin Talbott and Justin Rockefeller received a Common Cause I Love An Ethical New York Award—the inaugural Andrew W. Heiskell Youth Democracy in Action Award—on November 1, 2007, in New York’s Rainbow Room.
In the same space, on January 31, 2008—just five days before the “Super Duper Tuesday” primary in several states—World War II veteran and model of civic engagement John C. Whitehead will hand the inaugural Lewis Cullman Civic Engagement Award to Paul Rieckhoff, thirty-two year-old founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Call 212-972-2268 for information about tickets.
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