A Call To Engage

It seems as America becomes more and more in demand of a new course, fewer and fewer young people are getting involved in the activities that matter the most. To me, voting, volunteering, networking, learning my heritage, engaging in travel and exploration, and most of all, getting a well-rounded education are among some of these activities. It is not uncommon for the people around me to immediately desire to help others or see value in education and life. For me, I love to engage myself hands-on with what goes on in my community, school, work, and home life. For many, this is not the case in this form. Many of the people I hang out with or engage in fun activities with, it’s going to the club, movies, shopping, or watching Netflix. Even in these engagements, I find myself absolutely different from them all and find a minimum ounce of fun in such engagements. Even then, I think of the starving children in Cleveland, Ohio and the world. I think of graduation rates, employment rates, and our Veterans who are without. I think of how much more useful I could be in helping someone, somewhere. Through all this, I realize when my parents' generation dies off, my generation is the next in line to run a grocery store or police the streets, to even being the mayor of a city. I’ve realized my generation needs to get more involved in keeping what is known as the “American Dream” alive. A call to engage is at its highest.

In traveling to London and Africa, these places and nations are great, but America is the greatest country on earth, full of cultural and ethnical diversity. It is up to the American people to keep that alive, which can be done through community engagement.

I recently opened the CNN app on my phone to find, nonetheless, readings about mass murders, abductions, racially motivated crimes, and a deteriorating education system. Sometimes, I have to close and re-open the app to ensure what I read was true. Now, yes, good things do happen, but the bad has definitely gotten out of hand. From all this, I have realized a call to engage is needed. Young people not just in Parma, but all across the world need to drop the remote or movie time and invest into making their community, their country a better place than what it already is.

Some of the top things to do are: become familiar with learning the U.S. Constitution, local state revised code, and, most of all, your local ordinances. Who are your elected officials? Stop in and attend a city council meeting. Learn what your housing market is like, what your school district is rated or lacking in, what your politicians are working on. What are your local ballot issues or tax rates? One that I love - what is your family heritage? What is your community like? Rated? What is the best point of interest in Parma? There is so much more that is important for the next generation to fully engage in and work on.

I bite my tongue when I say this, but elders, let’s make room for the next generation. I love learning and being taught about a career field or historical moment. I have learned a lot from my mentors and elders in general, but it is time we get more mentoring going. Engage in mentoring a young person who expresses interest in being a doctor or lawyer, mechanic or hairstylist. I believe to have a best equipped and engaged next generation, this needs to be done and the room needs to be made. Now, I know that is discriminatory and some want to work until they cannot anymore, but must we still complain about the unemployment rate when graduates with degrees cannot get employment in their field, due to a limited number of jobs available? Through education and voting, retirement could be made earlier and younger people can get jobs.

I now challenge my generational citizens to get out, volunteer, network, learn, and engage in your community and communities across the country. Make change happen and let’s work to keep the American Dream alive. 

Allosious Snodgrass

I am a currently a 19-year old Cleveland State University College student, interested in obtaining my degree in Political Science and Law. As I grow and learn as an individual, particularly as a student/young adult, I enjoy sharing what I have learned with those around me. I am most passionate about people, community development and individual growth. I write only to share my "what I believe sane and middle-ground thoughts" to the public. After all, good-advice and experience can come in handy sometimes in developing as people. Parma is my new home and I love the community as it reflects greatly my home away from home. Feel free to contact me and feel even more free to enjoy my writings.

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Volume 7, Issue 1, Posted 8:32 AM, 01.05.2015