Don’t wait for change to happen. Create it yourself.
Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson joined 24 other candidates in the race to become Baltimore’s mayor, and black rights activists across the nation should rally behind him.
He joined the Ferguson, Missouri protests after police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed Michael Brown in 2014. Mckesson grew tired of waiting for other people to change our nation, and he decided to do something about poverty, police brutality and racism.
Anyone can run for office. You don’t have to be a millionaire or have a law degree to run for a political position.
“I’m not a millionaire. I’m not a former elected official. I’m an activist. I’m a son of Baltimore,” Mckesson said Tuesday at a forum at the Belvedere Hotel.
Being from New Orleans, I’ve heard countless young adults say something along the lines of “I can’t wait until I can get out of here” or “I’d never raise my family here.”
The city’s high crime rate is detracting people from the beautiful Crescent City.
If you’re not happy with your city’s crime rate, do something about it. Run for city council. Vote on programs that will assist in minimizing crime. But don’t leave your community when it needs people like you to improve it.  Mckesson found similar problems with Baltimore.
“I love this city,” Mckesson said. “It’s the city where I was born and raised, where I live, where my family lives and where my family is from — and I’ve watched it continue to be a city that isn’t working for people.”
Running for city council is obviously easier said than done. Much more goes into lowering a crime rate than joining a city council and voting, but you get the idea.
People’s mindset about certain cities exists on a state and national level as well.
College students across the state are contemplating their future in Louisiana because of the budget crisis. They’d rather not live in a state where their state-funded scholarships can be snatched away in the blink of an eye.
Instead of trying to better their state, they’d rather pack up and raise their future families in places without yearly budget fiascoes.
On the national level, many Americans are thinking of leaving up if Donald Trump wins the presidency. According to a Fusion poll, 54 percent of young Americans said they’d feel it’s time for them to leave the country if Trump were to win.
Hopefully, Mckesson will help people understand that simply leaving your community to crash and burn is a poor plan.
As much as we want TOPS and dread the possibility of Trump becoming president, we can’t just throw in the towel.
You don’t have to run for a political position to get change, although it would help. I’m a 20-year-old, full-time college student. I’m in no position to run for any form of office, yet I want to start seeing racial equality.
Not everyone will be able to run for office for a variety of reasons, but that doesn’t mean you can just sit around.
Vote. Everyone needs to vote. Don’t complain about income inequality and a corrupt government if you’re not aiding in the change. Aside from voting, promote a candidate who shares your values. Then when you have the ability to really step up to the plate, go for it.
I may not be able to run for office now, but when I’m in the position in my life where I have the time and resources to make a difference, I will. I don’t plan on packing up and leaving because times get too hard.
Nothing will improve if people leave. Leaving will only make it worse for the next generation. We need to stand up and create the change we want to see. Our city, state and country can be as beautiful as we want it to be.
Be a leader. Be the person that fixes a broken situation rather than the person who flees looking for an already fixed one.
Clarke Perkins is a 20-year-old political science sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana.