Ali Burns is a creative living in Wellington, placing herself with feminist values and a strong social conscience. Her creative profile includes completing her Masters in scriptwriting, directing music videos, web series, as well as creating and performing as part of the band prizegiving. 

Teenage girls in groups are rarely taken very seriously. They are often seen as silly and frivolous, and most likely gossiping about something vapid and uncultured. However teenage girls have more power over culture than they are given credit for.

The idea that teenage girls are vapid and useless saturates our culture. Films, books, music and TV often paint the picture of the teenage girl being  an airhead, a “mean girl”, or “not like other girls” (which basically means the dream girl of the writer). Recent examples include Paper Towns (which I’ll admit tries to address this but also in many ways fails at it), The Duff, Supergirl, The Princess and the Frog and Drake. This is not to discredit these works of their worth, I merely wish to point out examples of media creating the trope of “not like other girls”. When I was in high school I bought into this idea and looked at other teenage girls like they were silly and frivolous, and these were my friends. I had been so soaked in the culture that ridiculed teenage girls that I discredited my friends because of it. I would try to avoid being like them because it meant that I was the girl who was not like other girls and that meant my emotions and thoughts were valid. It was a way to survive being a teenage girl.

This idea of being “not like other girls” discredits and silences young women, as they are never given the opportunity to take themselves seriously. They can’t raise their voices together in protest if they do not trust each other’s voices. However teenage girls have been silently and unconsciously protesting this culture for centuries, by creating their own culture and language in defiance, and by doing this they create a safer space for to exist in.

Teenage girls are the biggest creators of language, and have been throughout history. William Labov who is the founder of modern sociolinguistics wrote a paper which showed that women lead 90% of linguistic change, a finding that has been confirmed many times. The women who create the most language are young, something easily observed by examining where a lot of new slang and speech comes from. Young women’s voices and their language should be celebrated. It is a way from them to survive, and it is a way for them to rebel against the society that persuades them that their voice is worthless.

An article on the Quartz by Gretchen McCulloch suggests that if we value Shakespeare so much then we should be applauding the innovativeness of the language that young women invent.  Young women are condemned for the very thing that Shakespeare himself was applauded for. Katherine Martin, head of US dictionaries at Oxford University Press, explains that if Shakespeare really was inventing so many words during each play then no one in the audience would have understood what was happening in the play, and that Shakespeare was in fact just recording the vernacular of the time. This vernacular comes mostly from young women. As letters that were evaluated by Nevainen and Raumolin-Brunberg at the University of Helsinki showed, between 1417 and 1681, female letter writers were making far more changes in their speech than male letter writers.

Why are young women so good at creating new language and why do they do it if they are continually criticized for it? Beels and Wood explain that “some acts of youth agency can be seen as irrational, and some acts of resistance may not be conscious choices made by the individual”. To be a young women within a society that is constantly discrediting you is not easy, so creating language which can’t be understood by those who shame young women has got to be satisfying. Producing this new language and using it within a safe environment can be a form of invisible activism that is an act to create social change, even though it is not conscious.

There is a public perception that youth of today are “apathetic compared to previous generations”, however if we consider disrupting language as a form of activism then we can see youth as constantly performing a form of invisible activism, as “activities of agency occur in spaces where a subject can stand, speak and be oneself; they are performances of identity just as much as they are moments of cultural creation” (Beels and Wood).  Teenage girls do not have access to many spaces where they can stand and speak without ridicule. So creating speech and having it assimilate into everyday language is a way of performing their identity as well as creating social and cultural change.

This creation of language is evolving faster than ever due to the use of the Internet, where language among youth is shared quicker than ever before. Using the Internet as a platform for activism and survival is also a way to include youth and acknowledge them as more active in social change than they are recognized for. It is important to acknowledge when speaking of youth “apathy” in social activism that “some youth do not have access to the resources needed to do transformative agency, and others are permanently excluded from this position because of who they are and where they live” (Beels and Wood).  The online community therefore is a safe space for young women who are not able to feel confident or physically be within a public space to speak out about causes they feel strongly about. Using social media and online communities to educate them and perform agency instead of doing so in a physical sense “may be in part a reaction to the limited spaces young people can occupy in physical spaces owing to the increased privatization and regulation of public spaces” (Wyn and White 2008). So it is misleading to criticize young women for being apathetic by not being physically present in activist communities.

A youth activism group in Auckland called Radical Youth used social media as a way to communicate with their members and followers, noting “young women from Radical Youth preferred to use social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook in their creation of a community of youth activists”, and when examined it was observed that “these social networking sites have generated few adult responses. In effect, these sites have appeared to be “no-go”” zone for adults, effectively providing young women with a new space to connect with their peers away from the eyes of adults” (Beels and Wood). Which shows that older generations do not see these communities grow and the education and activism that is happening within them, which is why it is dismissed so much as a form of activism. Recently within New Zealand many young women are calling out sexual abusers through social media to warn other women, the ability to share this information is vital for many people’s survival, and having the ability to use a non-physical platform to do this also can protect the victims.

It is easier to access the knowledge we need to move forward and disrupt the patriarchy than it ever has been. Young women are sooner aware of the limitations that are put on them and therefore can sooner combat them. Using language and social media to create communities and culture is helpful for the survival and safety of young women, and even though this alone cannot combat the injustices that young women face we need to acknowledge that young women are more powerful in creating social change through these platforms than they are given credit for.

Gentrification: Before and after

Joya Tiana is originally from the USA and currently resides in Sydney. She loves Wellington and visits often. Joya has been writing professionally since October 2015 and enjoys writing about food, travel, and socially impactful topics.

“Colonialism deprives you of your self-esteem and to get it back you have to fight to redress the balance”. Although colonialism is seen as an act of the past, its harsh impact still carries on today. Many of today’s youth are still facing issues that have been brought on as an aftermath of colonialism and neocolonialism.

Colonialism is the state of a people or dependent nation in which the area and/or people, and often their resources are being controlled by a more powerful government. Africa has been one of the continents that has suffered the most devastating effects brought on by the colonization of their people, land, and resources by western powers. A form of colonialism still takes place today in Africa, through the practices of capitalism, cultural imperialism, and business globalization – in other words, through neocolonialism. African countries such as Zambia are having their resources taken and invested into the economies of countries such as Switzerland, New Zealand, and the United States of America.

Zambia is a landlocked country located in the central southern region of Africa, with Angola to the west and Zimbabwe to the south of its border. In Zambia, copper is plentiful. Copper is also a commodity to the world and is a significant factor in the global economy. However, foreign occupancy among Zambia’s copper mines is rampant. Every single copper mine in Zambia is owned by a western country, meaning that not a cent earned from the production of copper is given to Zambia, the rightful owners of this immaculate resource.

Over the past 10 years, 29 billion US dollars’ worth of copper has been extradited from the lands of Zambia, with every cent going into the economies of westernized countries. Occasionally westernized countries give back to Africa in the form of “foreign aid”, however foreign aid is typically less than 1/10th of what these countries have taken from Africa in the form of resources. This is one of the many forms of neocolonialism that takes place in the world today, particularly with African nations being exploited by the west.

Further commodities that Africa has been exploited for in the past and still is today includes precious gems, cocoa beans, and various precious metals. For many Africans of all ages, including the youth, this means poverty stricken lands and minimal opportunities to escape an insufficient lifestyle.

A popular method that many young Africans, including Zambians are taking is to leave all that they know and love behind for the chance to start a new life on foreign shores in which promise boosted economies, prosperity, and opportunity. The same foreign shores that have been responsible for much of their very own misfortune back home in Africa. Many young Africans are migrating to westernized countries in search of a high quality life that is given to so many non-Africans at the stake of African resources.

New Zealand is one of the nations that is slowly building communities filled with Africans who have left their homelands in search of better futures for themselves and their children. Not only has adjusting to new customs, traditions, and ways of life been a challenge for African migrants, but so has social acceptance from the ethnic majority of New Zealand. Many Africans have come to countries such as New Zealand, only to find that in western countries the lifestyle that their homeland’s resources have funded are not so easily accessible to African migrants or their children.  New Zealand claims to be a nation of equal opportunity, however an entire generation of New Zealand-born youth of African migrants can attest to a different experience.  

“People are surprised that we that we can speak English correctly. People always ask where we are from even though we were born here”. This the response that of one of the three interviewees gave me when I asked him to describe his experience growing up in Wellington. He went on to state that a lot of white New Zealand born individuals treat blacks as though black is inferior to white. Despite the fact that he was born and raised in New Zealand, his existence in the country sounded like the experience of an outsider. Another young, first-generation African male that I had the opportunity to interview talked about different issues that he found to be not so uncommon around New Zealand.

“The media shows so much animosity towards the African population in New Zealand”. The second young gentleman that I had the opportunity to interview felt that in the media, Africans are not accurately portrayed.  He feels that Africans are commonly shown as unintelligent, uneducated, and almost always violent and aggressive. Negative and inaccurate stereotypical portrayal of Africans in the media, along with bigotry and hate from other people can create misunderstanding and mistreatment of Africans on New Zealand soil.

I asked my final interviewee, a third generation African, what colonialism and neocolonialism meant to him. To him, colonialism and neocolonialism meant gentrification. I asked him how gentrification was affecting him. He gave me personal examples from his very own community: the inner-city Wellington neighborhood of Newtown. Just 10 years ago, the community of Newtown was largely filled with ethnic minorities: Polynesians, Māori, and Africans. There was actually a very significant amount of people of color in the area. Back then, Newtown was a great place for low-income dwellers to find an affordable place to live. It was extremely rare to find a white person in Newtown back then. Many whites considered Newtown a rough and dodgy place and did not step foot into the area.  It was extremely rare to see a white person walking around the neighborhood. They preferred to live on the outskirts of town where they could have spacious backyards and big houses.

Presently, times are quickly changing. These days, convenience is an extremely desirable commodity that many people want the luxury of having. Like any commodity, convenience can be bought and sold. This is when gentrification begins. Gentrification is the renovation and increase of property value in low-income areas to appease middle-class and upper-class income earners. Gentrification often leads to displacement of low-income and often ethnic minority residents. This is exactly what is happening to many inner-city ethnic communities globally and Newtown is no exception.

Before, the white middle and high income earners wanted to live far out and have lots of space to raise a family. But now, the next generation of white middle and high income earners want the convenience of inner-city living that comes with short commute times to and from work and numerous bars, restaurants, and entertainment quarters at their feet. The property demand has flipped. Now the demands for inner-city areas are higher, while rural and suburban living is less desired. To meet this demand and make money, the city has been slowly renovating Newtown and raising the rent and property value in the area, which displaces low income earners and people of color, forcing them to leave their neighborhoods for white, middle and upper class occupants.

“The whole objective is to move people far out”, my interviewee adds. “It’s [gentrification] aggravating because there are friends and neighbors who have been here for decades and are a part of the community but are forced to move because of capitalistic gains. People of color are the ones suffering”.

The three young men that were interviewed all gave three very different examples of how colonialism and neocolonialism still impacts their lives today, but they all agreed on one thing. They all wished that there was more vocal presence of African youth in New Zealand. There is a great desire for more positive representations of the African population in New Zealand.

We, as African youth, have to come together for positive changes to happen. Young people are the future of the world and it is up to us to stand up to neocolonialism both abroad and on our own soil. In order for us to accomplish this, we need to come together as a community and begin with small steps.

A young man who is currently residing in Wellington has made a bold move to bring young African people in New Zealand together though the love of music. Ravi Ramoo is the founder of an exciting Facebook channel, ReelVibesCheck. ReelVibesCheck is based on diversity and has great and progressive things planned for its future.  Ravi, created this channel as a platform for the African youth to enjoy great music and to voice the issues that are plaguing their communities. However, the channel also welcomes young people from any background looking for a comfortable place to learn,  meet new people, and enjoy music. With Africans coming together and other ethnicities getting to know and learn about one another, more harmony can occur.

Young people coming together is always a great thing. Although the African population have a separate history, there is a growing population being born and raised right in New Zealand. Each and every one of us play a large role in the making of a community. It is up to us, as young people to spread great influence and make positive changes one step at a time.

Sources:

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/colonialism

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/neocolonialism

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colonialism

http://www.progressivepress.net/africa-is-not-poor-it-is-being-robbed-video/

http://ethniccommunities.govt.nz/sites/default/files/files/EthnicityDataOnlineDemographicOverview.pdf

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/gentrification

https://www.facebook.com/reelvibescheck/

3 young African residents of Wellington, who wish to remain anonymous

Patu Squad

Brent Tinkle is a Wellington local in his second year of his Bachelors of Social Work at Whitireia Community Polytechnic in Porirua.

What do we see as real or legitimate activism and why? How do we challenge negative narratives around youth activism? Why are older activists so cynical about youth activism and the future of activism in Aotearoa?

Activism comes from the Latin word actus, meaning ‘to act, deed, to drive through’. I like to break activism down into ‘act’ and ‘vision’ – acting to change what you envision to be better for society.

Activism has its own unique history in New Zealand, a history changed forever by people of mana who were steadfast, unapologetically radical and passionate. Whina Cooper launched Te Rōpu o te Matakite o Aotearoa and led the Māori Land March in 1975. Between 1975 and 1978, Eva Rickard led the campaign for the return of the Raglan Golf Club to Māori ownership. In 1977, Joe Hawke led the occupation of Bastion Point reserve, a protest against the sale of land that had been wrongfully taken from Ngāti Whātua.

Tame Iti, whom the media has smeared, burned and twisted, still stands unfaltering. Hone Harawira spent his youth passionately rallying with Auckland based groups including He Taua and the Polynesian Panthers. The ‘Patu Squad’ as they were called, went toe-to-toe with the police’s ‘Redsquad’ in the suburbs surrounding Mt Eden during the ‘81 Springbok tour protests.

These activists and the legacies of those who have fought injustice before them have inspired and encouraged Generation Y’ers to this date. As millennials, we produce our own methods. Often activism acts from outside the confines of the system because you can try to create change from within, but often being a conformist means the system ends up changing you. As activists, we must fight to change the system itself.

One thing is certain – we live in a complex world with ever-changing ways to acquire information. The age of the Internet allows global sharing of information to almost anyone and everyone who lives in a democratic state with access to a computer. The Internet has drastically decentralised and eroded power of traditional media within society. It has given ways for many outside the majority consensus to share their views and opinions. With mobile phone recording, images and videos of events hit the web every minute.

The internet has been a tool, not a cause of change. It has made it easier for people to see the truth that the powerful would rather hide, to learn from activists on the other side of the world, to co-ordinate campaigns without hierarchy and to expose governments and corporations to public ridicule. It has also helped those same governments and corporations to spy on activists, to disrupt campaigns, to spread their own messages through well-funded advertising and to create an illusion of popular support. (Hill, 2013, pg 6)

In essence, it has provided an alternative means for Y-Gens being informed on current events. It provides sanctuary for those wishing to avoid the verbal diarrhoea that pours from Mike Hosking’s mouth most weeknights on dumbed-down tax-payer funded mainstream media. There are those of earlier generations who are cynical about our use of the Internet, suggesting it hinders our ability to actively protest in person. They must be reminded that it is just a contextualised form of the printing press used in Britain in the 17th century – printing allowed for the mass distribution of information. It is the equivalent of anti-war pamphlets handed out on the streets during the Vietnam War. Now, activists have their own arsenal of techniques ranging from hashtags and tweets, to my personal favourite, the Internet ‘meme’.

Many of New Zealand’s working class are so concerned with surviving our society’s capitalist system and putting food on the table that economic freedom and socialist democracy is unfortunately beyond their rationale. The first step for Generation Y activists should be to challenge the structural systems in place. A focal point should be to rally and engage with workplace unions. Through working in solidarity with unions, the goals of better work conditions, higher wages and job satisfaction can be achieved. A misconception is that millennials do not think favourably of unions but recent studies suggest the opposite to be true as highlighted in Frontes & Margolies (2010). This will not be easy, and historically the government has made sure of this. Evidence of this is the Waterfront Strikes of 1951, and the legislation the National Government put in place at the time that prohibited any citizen from aiding workers financially with fines as a punishment. The Labour opposition also have a tainted history with unions, making the Carpenters Union illegal in 1948 and the Boilmakers Union illegal in the 80’s.

The major obstacle with young workers is that we now live in a society that fails to provide proper opportunities for workers to acquire union membership. Very few workplaces make it easy for millennials to find information or access appropriate unions. Activists should be working against such practice, highlighting the need for workers to unite and challenge their employers and unions to ask whether they wish to join. Through unions, it is imperative that the rights of workers are met and that unions serve the goals of the employees. All activists who aim for a more equal society should join their appropriate union.

Another approach to activism should be the encouragement of collective and transparent communication between groups. An example could be feminist groups working alongside socialist organisations. It is understandable that feminists might be hesitant to work alongside groups that historically have side-lined their causes. Classism in its very essence facilitates sexism and racism; therefore, some common ground may be found. In doing so, socialists may also gain a better understanding of feminism and become more active in advocating for its cause.

Another example may be the plight of tangata whenua and New Zealand Cook Islanders. Many do not know that New Zealand Cook Islanders fall lower than tangata whenua in some statistics pertaining to poverty. By working alongside tangata whenua, they may have a stronger voice when asking for their fair share. If New Zealand is to treat its indigenous and rightful owners with contempt, how can it be accepted they will treat those from the Cook Islands any better. Likewise, tangata whenua may benefit by extending its hands to our Pasifika brothers struggling for racial equality. Millennial activists should also have a greater understanding of Kaupapa Māori theory. Te Reo initiatives should also supported and compulsory in every school across Aotearoa. It is one of New Zealand’s official languages, therefore should be treated as such. Activists should be encouraging each other to learn Te Reo Māori and challenging our society’s European epistemology and the hegemonic forces that push its colonising consensus on iwi by doing so.

George Orwell said “Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.’’ No doubt the generation that comes before us will read about how we as a society could of done more about certain events such as the West Papua Genocide, and think of us in a negative light. It is with hope that they too may forgive our ignorance and give us a chance to right our wrongs. Until then, the fight is ours and we must use our strengths to combat the neo-liberal agenda of the right. We must protest the systemically racist structure of institutions across Aotearoa. We must unionise, organise and resist. It will never be easy and at times you will have to work from outside the system. To the activists of older generations who look upon us millennials with disregard, the words of Huey P Newton should be remembered: “The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution.’’

Bibliography

Bloom, H. (2007). Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: George Orwell – Updated Edition. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.

Frontes, M., & Margolies, K. (2010). Youth and Unions. Retrieved from Cornell University ILR School website: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/workingpapers/104

Hill, S. (2013). Digital revolutions: Activism in the Internet age. Oxford: New Internationalist.

King, M. (2003). The Penguin history of New Zealand. Auckland, NZ: Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd.

Klein, N. (2014). This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Lee, S. Y. (2014, June 14). Chomsky: ‘I Don’t Look at Twitter Because It Doesn’t Tell Me Anything’. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seungyoon-lee/noam-chomsky-twitter-interview_b_7064462.html

Morwood, J. (2005). Oxford Latin desk dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Myers, A. C. (1987). The Eerdmans Bible dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Olsson, G. H., Rogell, A., Barnes, J., Glover, D., Arnö, A., Questlove, … MPI Media Group. (2011). The Black power mixtape 1967-1975: A documentary in 9 chapters.

Pere, R. R. (1982). Concepts and learning in the Maori tradition. Hamilton, N.Z: University of Waikato, Dept. of Sociology.

Rees, J. (2014). The ABC of Socialism. London: Counterfire.

Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. London: Zed Books.

Statistics New Zealand. (2001). Pacific Profiles – Cook Island Maori. Retrieved May 9, 2016, from http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2001-census-data/2001-census-pacific-profiles/cook-island-maori-people-in-new-zealand.aspx

Te Ara. (2016, April 14). 7. – Strikes and labour disputes – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/strikes-and-labour-disputes/page-7

By Kī Foster.

Welcome to the online launch of the Youth Issue of Fightback Magazine, Redefining Activism.

Through this issue, we hoped to capture both the wisdom and the challenges presented by young people, who are already engaging within community, activism, ideas and politics.

“Asking the questions: what do we see as “real” or “legitimate” activism and why?
How do we challenge negative narratives around youth activism?
Why are older activists so cynical about youth activism and the future of activism in Aotearoa?

At the core of this issue is searching for a redefinition of activism. To do this we are looking at narratives of survival and resistance by youth under capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy, and homophobia/transphobia/biphobia/interphobia. We want to challenge the idea that youth are disaffected and show the ways in which they are transforming activism in Aotearoa.”

This issue features eight pieces by people under the age of 25 across the country on the topics of: the activist tradition in Aotearoa, decolonisation, colonialism, xenophobia, sexism, sex work, voting and what alternatives look like to our current political systems. All writers received a koha of $50.

To support our work and order a paper copy of this magazine, please fill out the subscription form below by JUNE 30TH (subscriptions are $10):
http://tinyurl.com/z8rb9su
If you subscribe by June 30th, you will also receive our Queers and the Capitalist pamphlet in the mail!

All content will be available via Fightback’s website from June 30th.

Huge thanks to our contributors:

Brent Tinkle
Joya Tiana
Ali Burns
Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho
Tyler West
Kī Foster
Brodie Fraser
Charlie Prout

And to our Editing Team:

Sophie Mui Sim Weeber
Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho
Aaliyah Zionov
Hugo Cordue

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. In solidarity and aroha.

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