ABSTRACT
In the 1960s and 1970s the fight to end race-based segregation and discrimination took center stage in the black community. Dissatisfied with their unequal status, black people and their allies set out to change American laws, customs, and practices. Their collective efforts were organized into the modern civil rights movement, which utilized tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience, as well as the energy and political ambitions of young people. Young people participated in local boycotts, organized mass meetings, engaged in sit-ins, marched in demonstrations, and went to jail by the thousands. In the last few decades, however, African American youth involvement in efforts toward social change has been considerably less visible, leaving many to wonder if this group has become politically dormant. Indeed, with the exception of several highly publicized youth-focused initiatives to increase voter turnout in the 2004 presidential election (“Vote Or Die,” “Black Youth Vote,” and “Rock-the-Vote”), African American men and women under age thirty have been seemingly absent from activities directed at influencing the structure of government, the selection of government authorities, or public policies.
