The Wave: To Speak of Ourselves

Last year, following the results of the presidential election, we here at The Wave tried to process (and, to be honest, just tried to understand) all that had happened and perhaps attempt to mentally prepare for what was to come with a post that collected our diverse feelings, concerns, and thoughts on the election of Donald Trump. Adding to the mixture of grief and confusion we felt then was a momentary sense of powerlessness—the lives of the teens who make up this publication will likely be profoundly affected for many years by the election of 45, yet they had absolutely no say in his ascendance to the office of president. Clearly, those in our program were not alone in this feeling—teens across the country felt a similar sense of powerlessness, but what they also shared in was a similarly strong sense of hope and drive to do what they can to make the world they want to see.

This new mini-documentary from New York-based filmmaker Jason Evans (and edited by friend of The Wave Jeanne Applegate) beautifully captures the mixture of fear, concern, uneasiness, anger, confusion, community, hope, love, and purpose teens across the US have felt in recent months. Watch it, listen to their words, and know that while teens may not have a vote, they do have a voice, and they are THE FUTURE. You can watch the six-minute To Speak of Ourselves film above and learn more about Jason Evans here.