Voices Of Youth

A movement is bubbling away in the supply tent at OccupyLSX to get a marginalised voice in society heard. They are Occupy our Future, a youth movement using OccupyLSX as their base to gather momentum and reach out. ‘We were sitting in the General Assembly in the first week, but we felt that our voices weren’t being heard’, says Yasien.* He explained the difficulties of getting their message across: youth are not as experienced as some of the older protesters, who don’t necessarily see their side of things.

They are about creating a more positive way for youth to express themselves and be constructive. Their base is the former supply tent, which they have not hesitated to make useful: “We livestream every day at 10pm, music jam as a way to bring out our message and yesterday we had 400 people logging in,” said Yasien.

Focussing on stretching their network through social media and word-of-mouth through the camp, they are also encouraging youth to come and see the camp for themselves rather than trusting the media picture.

One of the group organisers, John* said the movement started as a response to budget cuts. “Nick Clegg and the LibDems betrayed us when they tripled the fees. The riots happened because youth were angry and agitated. When you are pushed up against a wall, you have nowhere to escape, no other choice than to express yourself violently.”

Last Sunday the General Assembly was replaced by a Youth Assembly where youth expressed their concerns about society, and discussed the reasons behind the riots earlier this year. They are now debating where to go next. Their ambition is certainly not small: they are making a 10-point statement, and want to put a draft on a webpage for connecting to a wider group. They hope to reach out and to bring in; to spread their message of peaceful revolution and make youth part central to the process.

*last names withheld

By  Ragnhild Freng Dale