Yolanda Renee King is following in her grandfather’s footsteps. An activist, the 15-year-old, is encouraging others her age to do the same. King wrote We Dream a World, and just like her grandfather, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she had a dream, a vision for what she wanted the world to look like in the future.
King was present at the Youth Day Event for The Athlete’s Foot and spoke with rolling out about being an activist and her book.
What does being a youth activist mean to you?
Being an activist is simply advocating for an issue. Being a youth activist as a young person, I think a lot of times when you look at major movements, it’s really started by young people and by younger generations, historically. Carrying that on and really getting everyone involved and as a young person, sharing my ideas and getting to talk to other people who are close to my age.
A lot of people think that in order to be an activist or involved, you have to make all these major sacrifices. That’s certainly one way but I think one of the best ways that you can be an activist and get involved is through using your talents for good. Everyone here has a talent or has something that they’re good at, so using that for good, whether that being an artist and organizing something or creating something through your work and sharing your feelings, I think art has been a big part. Or if you’re a part of a community or team organizing and creating events. Social media is a whole new thing now. There [are] just more and more doors opening up.
You have a book titled We Dream a World. What is your dream for the world?
I want the world to know we have the potential to be a great generation; we have the potential to really live in this magnificent world. I know that the current state of our world seems hard, rough, and discouraging, but there’s another option; there’s another solution. We can create that world if everyone just does a little something. It doesn’t have to be something crazy, just having fun and everyone getting in to build the community that they want. You need a good community and you need to unite in order to build and become a good community. I think with so much in the news and with all that’s going on, we see all that is wrong, but there’s so much that we can do for our world and it’s so beautiful, and I don’t think that we should waste what we have.
I think that we all need to come together and do something. I hope people are able to see that because I know that sometimes we immediately want to go to the mindset of “This is the way it’s always going to be” and it sucks. I just want to really bring everyone in and embrace them so that they can be inspired because I know how hard it is to find inspiration or to find motivation to do this or to continue to do this.
What are some words you’d like to give to the younger generation?
What activism is all about is using your platform for good. If you feel called to speak, you can speak and go to events and rallies and become a speaker of the rally. There are so many other ways that you can contribute: it takes organizers to make an event, getting up on your Saturday and showing up to those rallies, supporting certain people, creating your own charity, or even using your art or your talent to do something for good. Everyone has a platform, and activism is about using that platform, that talent, that passion for good. I think that a lot of people think people think activism is very authoritative, not fun, and very stressful. There are certain components to that it is hard, but you can have fun with it. You don’t want to always be so rigid; do what you enjoy, use what you love for good, and it’s about being creative. I think that there’s a reason why we have creativity, so we need to use that to fuel [activism] and to create the type of world that we want.
