Last Wednesday, I had the wonderful opportunity of attending a conversation at the Rose Cafe led by Judge Scott Miller. Though the talk was originally centered around what it was like for him as a defense attorney to defend people who he knew were guilty, the conversation of that evening took various twists and turns, ranging from contemplating morality’s role in justice to evaluating good and evil to discussing freedom of the press and the power of protesting. While the range of the conversation was enlightening in many different ways, the third, in particular, resonated with me throughout the rest of the night.

I kept pondering over questions like: Just how much power does protesting really hold? And what type of protesting is the most effective, yet ethical? Do we protest just about anything that we dislike or disagree with or do our reasons need to hold some sort of depth and correspondence to the greater good? Above all, however, the one thought that I really couldn’t shake was what Judge Miller had said about being so privileged to be the youth in a time where the press makes sure the American public is aware of many, many issues within our own country, creating great opportunities to to stand up and make a difference. At first, his statement didn’t make much sense to me as protests led by the up and coming generation has always been a recurrence in the United States. But then, I realized that this current generation really was privileged in way that no other had been before. There is a huge platform that we have to make our voices known, a platform that we made for ourselves through the use of technology. We can find like minded individuals and protest or prepare protest events all online. It’s quick and efficient and so much has already been affected by it.

In retrospect, we tend to focus so much on what is wrong with this country and how much we have to fix that we forget to acknowledge and be grateful for the fact that we have access to information about almost anything that happens in this country because of the power of the press and that we are allowed, as well as encouraged by many, to be leaders of our generation and use our voices to initiate change and make differences in the world around us. Having a voice and protesting seems like an innate human right, and perhaps it should be, but in reality, not everyone has the privilege to experience either. It truly puts into perspective just how much we take advantage of our freedom of expression and the power of our voices. We shouldn’t let such privilege go to waste, even if we think we’re not doing much. Our actions always affect something.