On Friday, I was surprised and alarmed to learn that the United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union, especially because of the xenophobic implications this vote had. As the morning continued and voter demographics were released, I was dismayed to learn that a majority of young voters had voted that the UK should remain in the EU–and their voice had been silenced by older generations.
This event, in my opinion, highlights exactly why social justice movements in college campuses are so important. When college students stand together for a cause they believe in, it is in an attempt to shape the world that they will inherit,often in a way that makes the world more equitable and just. College protests allow for students’ voices to be heard, even if they are not represented in elections.
SJMs on campuses are very much online-focused now, so trying to document and archive these for the future is difficult. Is there a good way to capture the ephemeral nature of some of these movements and their events? This is consistent with a lot of these movements anyway, since there’s a lot of stuff that was printed quickly and cheaply, with the intent of it being in the here and now, but some people still hung onto it. How do we hang on to Twitter? Websites? Other social media? No easy answers …