Good Trouble State of the Youth: Young Leaders Say the Time to Lead Is Now
Contributing writer Lizzy Nyoike reports on the Good Trouble State of the Youth event, honoring the legacy of Congressman John Lewis and bringing together students, organizers and educators for a conversation on civic engagement and youth leadership. Panelists including Haley Taylor Schlitz, Aaliyah Demry and Charlie St. Dennis argued that young people are already organizing campaigns and shaping policy, and shared how students at Highland Park Senior High partnered with staff to support families during heightened immigration enforcement fears earlier this year.
Generations of civil rights leaders have challenged future generations to leave the world better than they found it. At the Good Trouble State of the Youth event, organizers said that responsibility now belongs to today’s generation, while reminding adults in the room that meaningful change requires more than asking for youth opinions. It requires making room for young people to lead.
Honored and grounded in the legacy of Congressman John Lewis, the event brought together students, organizers, educators and community members for an evening focused on civic engagement, youth leadership and collective action. Through a panel discussion and a new student feedback field guide, organizers encouraged attendees to transform conversation into action.
Opening the program, Jose Perez, executive director of Good Trouble, challenged attendees to think about America’s 250-year history as an unfinished democratic project that each generation has a responsibility to continue.
“We celebrate America because generations after generations of those who were excluded from that promise have fought to make it more real and more honest,” Perez said. “We all have gifts. If we choose to be, we can be a part of the solution, a part of what’s right with America.”
Perez said the strategies used by leaders like Lewis and Ella Baker must evolve alongside modern technology, schools and institutions while remaining rooted in courage, sacrifice and love. “We honor him by practicing the courage, strategy, sacrifice and the love that it required for him to do his work,” Perez said. “The generation before us did the best they could with what they had. Now the opportunity is for us to do the best we can with what we have.”
The event featured a panel of young leaders discussing what it means to organize in today’s political and social climate. Rather than describing youth as the leaders of tomorrow, panelists emphasized that they are already leading businesses, organizing campaigns, advocating for policy changes and creating space for others.
Haley Taylor Schlitz, one of the panelists, said one of the biggest barriers facing young people is believing they have to wait until everything is figured out before taking action. “You don’t find your path, you make it,” she said, explaining that many young people stay comfortable because they fear making the wrong decision. She encouraged attendees to rely on mentors, saying courage often comes after taking the first step rather than before it.
Aaliyah Demry, another panelist, pointed to the unique pressures Gen Z is facing, saying constant exposure to violence, breaking news and injustice can feel overwhelming and eventually desensitizing. Still, she said she remains hopeful because young people continue showing up, volunteering and creating spaces where difficult conversations can happen.
Charlie St. Dennis challenged the framing of whether schools should partner with young people, arguing the question should no longer be if it should happen, but when. He said schools have an opportunity to become stronger communities when students are treated as partners in finding solutions rather than being recipients of a decision that didn’t involve them.
St. Dennis pointed to his experience at Highland Park Senior High in St. Paul during heightened concerns surrounding federal immigration enforcement earlier this year. Located just minutes from the federal building that houses U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said many students feared family members could be detained while traveling to or from school.
Rather than solely waiting for administrators to solve the problem, students, teachers and school leaders worked together to respond. St. Dennis said the conversations were uncomfortable at times but led to meaningful action. Student organizations, including the Black Student Union and Unión Latina, partnered with staff to organize food drives for affected families, educate classmates about what to do if immigration officers appeared near campus and develop plans to help students feel informed and supported.
“It was a really uncomfortable conversation. There was a lot of ‘this is not normally how we do this.’ But we really had to listen to both sides,” St. Dennis said.
He said the experience demonstrated what can happen when schools move beyond simply hearing students and instead work alongside them to address challenges facing their communities.
The conversation concluded with panelists reflecting on the gifts they hope to use in service of their communities. Several identified communication, writing and organizing as the tools that allow them to build connections across generations and inspire others to act.
The event closed with a call for continued civic engagement, encouraging attendees to apply the principles of nonviolent organizing and youth leadership within their own schools, organizations and communities.
Lizzy Nyoike is a Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication student and contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. She welcomes reader responses at lnyoike@spokesman-recorder.com.