This past week, I flew in and out of NYC for a conference on the civic engagement of immigrant youth, which incidently, also included U.S.-born to immigrant parents. Considering the political climate this month, this roundtable was very interesting to be a part of. Electoral youth organizing is something I’ve been doing for the past 8 years, and working on the civic engagement of desi youth has been my passion for the past few years. In 2004, the youth vote turned out in significant successful numbers, as well as the South/Asian American youth vote.
According to the Youth Vote 2004 Fact Sheet released by CIRCLE, no other age group increased turnout by more than 5 percentage points. The 2004 campaign brought out the largest percentage of young voters in 32 years. Studies suggest that once a young person is involved in the political process, they are more likely to continue to be involved in it. 35.5 percent of 18- to 25-year-old Asian American citizens turned out to vote in 2004, the largest percentage since data started being collected in 1972. [link]
Couple of the big questions asked, and the ones I keep mulling over is, “What is civic engagement? What is political?” Though the traditional ideas are out there of voting and volunteering, there is a whole ‘alternative’ form of civic engagement that youth today take part in.
Back in our grandparents’ generation, being “political” meant you had to go to a rally or a protest, or join a union. Today’s youth has a whole new definition, according to this survey; 22 percent have worn a wristband, 36 percent have signed an online petition, and 30 percent have written an email or letter advocating a position. Eighteen percent have contributed to a political blog. i.e., 918,000 young people are “political bloggers,” which is fascinating since the blogs are a product of only the past few years. 34 percent of [college youth] say they turn to blogs [to get their news].[link]
I was thinking about this when I received Jeff Yang’s newsletter this week, where he referred to Sepia Mutiny as a political community blog. SM is a virtual space that is an interactive forum where people get the news of our community, debate about pertinent issues important to us, and I’ll be the first to admit when researching the South Asian American diaspora for SAAVY or for reports, this blog is the first one that I come to. To me, reading, commenting, being a part of the Sepia Mutiny virtual community is a form of civic engagement, and in that sense is a real political space. Truly, this space is revolutionary in every sense of the word.
Yes mutineers, my time as Sepia Mutiny Temporary Super Star has come to an end, and at midnight I will be released from the North Dakota bunker and sadly back into the real world. Trust when I say that I have had an amazing time being a part of the faces to the right, and engaging in conversations with mutineers around the world. As a South Asian American organizer, I felt that this month has given me a deep insight into the very community that I’m politicizing and personally have learned so much from the experience. But just because I’m leaving the blog doesn’t mean I will be leaving you- in fact, it’s fueled my passion even further and I am reinvigorated to continue doing the work I do with South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), work I hope you’ll join me in. We are always looking for volunteers (wink, wink!) and you can always join our listeserv to get networked in.
Thanks everyone, it has been a blast. Go vote, and be mutinous.
