Step Into The Line of Fire!
A love letter and challenge to my generation.
The world is — well, to put it simply — on fire right now.
We are not only faced by literal forest fires just like the one that happened in Benguet a few months back, but we are facing fires like a global health pandemic making everyone vulnerable to a deadly disease, human rights crises by fascist governments that aim to strike fear and deaths to millions of people worldwide, and an environmental crisis brought by the onslaught of overproduction and abuse of our natural resources. We are seeing the world we’ve come to love slowly crumble right in front of our eyes.
This destruction is making us question the way of the world: Has the world been falling apart this whole time? Is it too late to change the world? What can I do to stop the world from falling apart?
This World Youth Skills Day, we must continue asking ourselves these questions on how we can change the world we live in. As a powerful force that continues to bring genuine change in through constant assertion for systemic change, the youth has constantly shown their dedication to abolish old systems in order to build a new world that is beneficial for each and every person. Alongside bright optimism and fearless struggle, the youth continues to utilize the skills they have acquired in order to fight for the common good.
In a time wherein the tides are changing, and the rise of the digital age coincides the rise of state fascism, the Filipino youth have continued to use their knowledge in technology and the arts to create and improve their cause driven startups, organizations, and independent publications. Developments in technology and deepened importance in user interface and experience has lead to the use of digital spaces for social action and change. From the youth utilizing existing applications to forward involvement in issues like the Anti Terrorism Law of 2020 and the Black Lives Matter movement, to creating websites from scratch that help bring youth organizations together, the Millennial and Gen Z has carried on with the youth struggle of past generations through a new medium.
This World Youth Skills Day, we remember the youth that came before us who used their skills to change the world. We remember the youth that used their wit and creativity to trail blaze the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship through organizations like the Kabataang Makabayan and Samahan ng Demokratikong Makabayan during the First Quarter Storm of 1970. We remember the strength and optimism of the youth that fought under the youth-led Katipunan that helped liberate the Philippines from colonial rule.
We remember that the youth have changed Philippine society time and time again in moments when we feel pessimistic or hopeless about the ways of the world. We remember that through honing our craft and talents and using these to fight with farmers, workers, and the national minority, we are able to link our struggles and come together stronger than ever to fight for our right to a better quality of life, self-determination, and for our democratic rights. As the late student activist Leàn Alejandro once said, “in the line of fire is the place of honor.” Remember that your skills — no matter what they are — are special weapons in the century-long struggle of the youth that fought for genuine social change!
This World Youth Skills Day, we must realize the importance of our skills in serving the people. Our skills — if we choose to avoid using it for good — will be reduced to nothingness and just for the need of clout that haunts our generation. We, the youth, are faced with a choice to make: will you use the skills you have and will have to change the world, or to perpetrate the systems that cause the destruction of the world? Our generation must choose to use our talents to break oppressive systems and be one with the people in building better ones.
Our generation must use our creativity to amplify the calls of the people for mass-oriented healthcare response to COVID-19, democratic rights, and a better quality of life. Our generation must use our skills to be a voice for the voiceless in times where we realize our voices matter in heavy but important conversations like sexual harassment. Our generation must use our courage to hold people in power accountable — from our school and university administrators that have apathy for the rights and welfare of their students, to the Duterte regime that has continued to put self-interest first over the lives of Filipinos during a health pandemic — in order to to hold the line and assert our freedom to fight and build a better world!
Let us use continue to our skills to struggle alongside the masses for genuine social change! Use your talents to link the struggles of the youth with the struggles of our people — our farmers, fisherfolk, workers, indigenous people, women, and LGBTQ+, who we should continue to dedicate our skills to! With that in mind, keep creating artworks, keep writing thought-provoking pieces, edit that draft you’ve been working on, involve yourself in initiatives, join mass organizations, and most importantly, keep fighting! Kabataan, paglingkuran ang sambayanan!
