The RC Community continues to benefit from the work, experience, and intelligence of RCers who have chosen to lead in our Communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging enough to slow the development of our Communities and new leaders. Now we need to think about the renewed development of our Communities and leaders, especially the leadership of the younger generations in RC.
WHAT STANDS IN THE WAY OF THE GROWTH OF YOUNGER LEADERSHIP
The early distress that prevents us from recognizing the intelligence and natural leadership of people younger than us is the oppression of young people. Young people’s oppression is the first age-based oppression that all humans experience. Young people’s oppression also serves as the model for young adults’ oppression—without young people’s oppression, there would be no young adults’ oppression. (For young adults, being allies to young people is both for the liberation of young people and for our liberation as young adults.)
All human beings either are or once were targeted with young people’s oppression, starting at the beginning of their lives. We all have hurts left over from when we experienced young people’s oppression. When we become adults, those undischarged hurts that were once our internalized young people’s oppression “flip” (change from one thing to another thing) and become our oppressor distresses toward young people. What can happen when we haven’t discharged our early hurts is that we feel we are living them again and then act our hurts out toward others. We all show the effects of these hurts in our relationships with people older and younger than us. To end any form of disrespect or mistreatment toward younger people, we need to work on the early foundation of those hurts.
“YOUNGER” WORK IN RC
The work on young people’s liberation and young adults’ liberation in RC has been built over multiple generations. We have workshops across the International Community for young people and young adults, including annual and bi-annual leaders workshops. We have International Liberation Reference Persons (ILRPs) who lead, counsel, and reference RCers of all ages around the world on the liberation of young people and young adults. We also have an RC Community Goal on ending the oppressions of young people and young adults. The work on ending all age-based oppressions—of young people, young adults, and elders—is important in and outside of RC.
It is also important for people of all ages to work on our experiences of living under a collapsing capitalist society, regardless of whether you are currently targeted with an age-based oppression. Young people, young adults, and elders experience capitalism in particular ways because of the oppressions we’re targeted with.
WHO IS “YOUNG” OR “YOUNGER”?
When we use the term “young” in RC, it would be most useful to use it when referring to the people who are currently targeted with an oppression for being young: young people and young adults. RCers who are no longer “young” need opportunities to discharge on their distresses from when they were young people and young adults, including the oppressions they aren’t targeted with in the present, but were then. Discharging those distresses allows people to remember the significance of young people and young adults and to build strong relationships with people of all ages.
What we young people and young adults want most from older adults is for you to claim your rightful role beside us as our allies. The key to having an enjoyable and re-emergent adult life is to work closely alongside us in our liberation.
A PROPOSAL FOR THIS NEXT PERIOD
We need to keep building and growing the work for allies to young people and young adults. This is part of the work in building a coalition between people of all ages—young people, young adults, older adults, and elders. Having a strong movement of allies ensures the growth of younger RC leadership. Older adults also need spaces for them to discharge on being the ages they are now, in addition to claiming their role as allies in the liberation of young people, young adults, and elders.
We young people and young adults need older adults and elders as our committed allies in our liberation. Many RC workshops on young people’s liberation and young adults’ liberation invite and welcome allies (and often can’t happen without the support of our allies). As we work toward the Goal on ending young people’s and young adults’ oppression, will you think about how to put the liberation of young people and young adults in the center?
We encourage you to talk with the ILRPs for Young People and Young Adults, talk with the ILRP for Allies to Young People, listen to the young leaders and young adult leaders in RC, and follow our thinking on how to help move our liberation forward.