People Say Things

People say things about our generation.

For the first time in existence, we have grown up

always being connected.

Facebook since the age of twelve,

Snapchatting our coffee breaks,

taking at least a selfie a day,

Millennials:

They tell us to refresh our minds,

Not our timelines

Generation Y,

We are viewed as wasteful,

Ungrateful,

Unmindful,

They say that we are missing out,

that we could be passing the love of our lives on the street,

but we’re too busy updating our Twitter to notice them.

They tell us we need to look up

But the time has come for them

to look down,

to notice how much of the world we are touching

through this revolution in humanity.

We are finding love across the world,

through a like online,

through a kind word

erasing the heaviness of space.

They are missing out on being connected,

on what we see as the future,

on an opportunity to hold the world in one hand.

People say things about our generation but they don’t know.

Support systems, innovations, change, a global community

sitting right in our hands.

Welcome to a world where you can be whatever you need to be,

where you can love whoever you want to love

where you can log on online and finally feel safe,

worthy of this life, of your life.

In this world,

Our minds are as wide open as the arms we use to embrace our loved ones,

And the change brought forth to us,

From years of oppression and silence

We are aware of what isn’t perfect

We know we haven’t thought of it all,

but we, will not allow you to tell us

that we’re doing it wrong.

We are grateful for endless knowledge,

for the understanding that nothing is ever set in stone,

but we have the tools and the courage to explore the

gift of being so small in a universe so endless.

We’re a part of a world where the excluded gay boy in Western Texas

has a best friend in London, England,

confirming his worth over Tumblr,

a world allowing us to never have to forget what our mother’s voice sounds like,

where we can text our fathers goodnight

no matter how many oceans are between us.

The numbers of suicide hotlines,

advice on things we’re too embarrassed to ask our parents about,

abuse victims telling their stories, charities,

all accessible and all welcoming.

We won’t have to miss out on any firsts because of distance.

Don’t ever try to tell us that we’ve learned to love ourselves the wrong way.

There are eighty year olds on Youtube

listening to the same song they first heard at the age of nine,

there are kids looking up how to properly strum a guitar.

We are part of a world

where love is only ever just a click away.

We might be killing your culture,

but accept our hands as we welcome you to our community.

Cries will not go unanswered,

injustices will not go unheard,

and with every growing generation will come new ways to voice the ones who have always been silenced.

I can’t breathe

They will trend,

Hands up,

they will spread,

Don’t shoot,

And this, it, all,

will grow in us.

We are connected.

Never again will a child count coins in order to follow a passion,

never again will an outcast go without having someone to talk to,

never again will we stand for it,

We are grateful for finally being allowed to be us.

We are grateful for now

People say things about generation,

but for the first time in existence,

we are finally given the opportunity

to be one with the human race.