Hey folks just a quick note from my desk at my day job. To those pouring scorn on the kids today:

February 1 1960, four black teens took it upon themselves to sit down in whites only seats, at a lunch counter in a Woolworths in North Carolina. These four young men, Ezell Blair jr, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond refused to be moved and were arrested for their civil disobedience. Within days 300 black students sat at the same counter, refusing to move, and within weeks this scene played out in 50 American cities. This WAS an important step leading towards the Civil Rights act of 1964.

Likewise, the Soweto Uprising of June 16, 1976, became an important step towards the abolition of apartheid in South Africa – Thousands of protesters took to the streets in protest of being forced to speak Afrikaans in the schools. Police sparked international outrage when they shot into the crowds, an image of a young boy, Hector Pieterson’s body being carried away the final straw for many businesses – who started to boycott the country after this.

Never forget, days after the Berlin wall came down in 1989 Czechoslovakia demanded their independence from the USSR. Who instigated this movement, which culminated with 500,000 citizens out on the streets of Prague to demand their independence? The kids.

From campus protests to black lives matter, from Tiananmen square to Iran in 1999 the kids have been showing us adults what standing up for your rights looks like. Today in New Zealand, as around the world lately, they are standing up for Mother Earth. My message to other oldies like myself, never underestimate what the kids can accomplish.. and to the kids thank you for stepping up on an issue of existential proportions, if we want an Earth, and continued life then someone needs to step up. I for one am glad it’s you, past experience has shown you guys have made all the difference.