Catalysts for Change: Launching the Youth Action Network

Saturday, January 2, 2021
1:00 PM 2:00 PM 13:00 14:00

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Uniting an International Coalition of Youth Leaders to Jump-start a New Year of Activism

TIME: 1 PM ET/ 10AM PT / 8PM CAT | PLATFORM: Zoom | REGISTER: bit.ly/yanparty21

Join Together We Remember in celebrating the launch of our Youth Action Network as we leave behind 2020 and welcome the new year! Get connected with youth activists on the rise across the world united in our mission to end identity-based violence. Get inspired by art, music, and stories that will open hearts and minds. Get informed about what it means to be a founding member of the Youth Action Network and various opportunities to join our community. Get involved in the action by sharing your hopes and dreams for a more just and peaceful 2021. We are igniting a movement to honor the past and transform our future. Are you ready for this moment? If so, let’s rise to it, together!

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS:

This program is being curated by Together We Remember’s Youth Action Network (YAN), a movement of student leaders across the world committed to bridging the gap between education and action to make “never again” a reality, once and for all. We apply the lessons of the past to the present to counter division and hate in our schools, communities, and on social media. With the help of Together We Remember and its global coalition of partners, we are realizing our potential as human rights advocates - sharpening our skills, growing our networks, and designing student-led projects that have local, national, and international impact.

Featured

“Equipping those in the TWR community with better understanding of being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community is important to me.”

“Learning about the Holocaust and human rights atrocities shifted my value of human life, highlighting how education can impact all lives. I feel I am responsible for teaching my community the lessons I feel refashioned my life.”

“I am a firm believer that with the proper education, people will be inspired to take action to fight hatred.”

“I have always been taught to be proud of my Muslim and Indian heritage. When I was younger, I was scared people wouldn’t accept me, so I tried everything I could to fit in. I now know that our differences are what make us unique and help us add value to our daily interactions.”

“It is often by listening to those that are different from ourselves that we can learn the most.”

“I believe we can heal relationships by relearning our historical roots, listening to the people in our communities, and working through these challenges collectively.“

“When we joined Together We Remember, we shared our promises. Some promised to work hard, others promised educate the public, and we all promised to remember those lost to mass genocides. This is what “Never Again” really is. It is people of every color, nationality, religion, sexuality, sex, age, and creed. It is us. Together, making a promise. Putting aside our personal agendas or beliefs. Carrying this torch to light lamp after lamp and making enough progress to pass it off to the next generation to make their own promises and light their own path forwards to end the cycle.

This is the spirit of ‘Never Again.’”

“To me “ never again” means we can’t be blind to what has happened in our past and must be better than our ancestors. Being better means we must diminish the hatred in our hearts and learn to love each other so no other person despite race or religion, should have to go through something like the Holocaust or slavery again.”

“Sometimes the most basic activity is an act of resistance. The way in which I exist, the prevalence of my culture in my life, my gender, it all is sometimes the loudest thing in the room. For me, activism begins in standing up for my culture and those that share it, by wearing it proudly.”

“To me, ‘never again’ means to live in a future that won't allow humanity to go back to days of wars, racial segregation, tribalism and other social injustice. Humanity has had it's worst days, but they should only serve as a reminder of a past we never again want to relive.“

“Telling my narrative and my parent’s narrative is only the start of my journey. I now have the skills and knowledge to understand other communities who carry intergenerational trauma just like mine do. I hope to show people that trauma does not go away rather it needs to be expressed in a way that creates a dialogue.”

“To me, “never again” means not only remembering and never forgetting the atrocities of the past, but also doing everything that is physically possible to prevent any similar events from occurring anywhere in the world. “Never again” means to vote, to participate in politics at all levels, to stand up to wrongdoing where it is visible, and to search for wrongdoing when it may not be front and center. It is educating and advocating in the fight to prevent the atrocities of the past and present from rearing their heads again.”

“Never again” means coming to terms with a wrongful past so that it doesn’t happen again.

I am excited about this fellowship because I have a lot of creative energy I can contribute.

“I wish to fan the spark of hope that survived from The Holocaust into a flame of remembrance and awareness that consumes hate and makes “never again” a reality.”

“Preaching "never again" is a command that we, as the current generation, and every generation that follows, will never again see another human being as inferior to us, that we will never again treat another human being in any way that does not highlight their human dignity.”

“Becoming involved in both the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum and the Together We Remember Youth Action Network has shown me that there are people who are listening and waiting for youth like me to step up and fight for the issues that I care about. There is no time for apathy or feeling like my voice doesn’t matter, because it does.”

“Through the TWR Youth Action Fellowship, I want to show that even someone like me, who struggles to see and read, can make the world better and succeed. I want to bring people together, and I want to create a community space where people who rarely see themselves in successful positions can exist, learn, and see a future where they can succeed, where they are seen, listened to, and heard.”

“Never again means coming face to face with your past, the good and the bad. It is a reminder to never grow complacent and forget what brought us to where we are today. My place in this world, I feel, is to forage on the periphery of society, helping those that cannot, for historical and systemic reasons, help themselves.”

“When I think of “never again”, I think of the collectives that share a common goal and passion for introspection, diversity, and the cause against tyranny and immorality. I know that I can create and mobilize efforts to alleviate intercommunal violence within my community, while additionally responding to the growing injustices that are present nationally. “