Do the work, the play, and the party The Round Table: A Next Generation Politics Podcast

At this week's Round Table, Jack, Inica, and Kenisha spoke with Hassan Javed and Zoey Belyea of Citizen University’s Youth Collaboratory, which focuses on equipping the next generation with the skills to build civic power and use it for good—right up our alley. We have to change narratives of power as part of this. Zoey and Hassan underscored that we can’t solve problems with the same old strategy; we NEED to help young people realize and wield our individual and collective power. It’s a key to transformation and empowerment, both societal and personal. Hassan talked about the pain of wanting to call out and address injustices he saw but not having a vehicle to do so. So HOW do we build power? By organizing of course! One person can bring four more people in. By building community and networks, especially of young activists, we can become civically super charged and start to change culture and, ultimately, cultural change is even more important than policy change. Yet it doesn’t happen overnight or even over many nights and we have to hold the vision and be willing to work for it, day after day and night after night, and to pursue multiple avenues to find what works. The more we learn now—and maybe even the more we fail now—the more effective we’ll be in 20-30 years. We loved how Zoey talked about using creative capacity to combine a logic framework with a heart centered approach to enable each of us to show up in ways that are fulfilling, loving, and inspiring and that help the world become the best version of itself. Here’s to that version–and thanks for listening!