Rock the world as a ‘Young Revolutionary’

I’m here to let you know that you have rights. Maybe you don’t possess the right to vote or the right to drive or drink alcohol… yet. But here’s a list of 9 rights that every one of you already has — even if you’ve forgotten what they are:

You have the right to …

•   Get angry at injustice

•   Live a life free of fear

•   Believe in yourself

•   Fix what’s broken

•   Listen to your gut

•   Change the world

•   Help others who can’t help themselves

•   Fight for your rights and the rights of others

•   Fight for your personal bill of rights

I’m here to remind you of the rights you have and don’t use as well as the rights you may not have even realized you had in the first place. I’m here to remind you that if you do not protect these rights, you may very well lose them. I’m here to let you know it’s time for you to start saving the world, one Revolution at a time.

You have the right to recognize your power — and use it!
Here’s the kind of real, usable power I’m talking about: you are school smart and you know something of how the world works and how to use technology in order to reach hundreds, even thousands, of people with a single Facebook post or YouTube video or text message — and even with all that knowledge racked up in your brain you have power you don’t even know about.

You have the power to start a Revolution — a Revolution where not only your life gets better, but hundreds or thousands or even millions of people improve the quality of their lives, too. You can be more than just a kid or a jock or a nerd or a brain or a cheerleader or whatever label the world uses to call you now; you can be more than that. You can be a Revolutionary!

Let me tell you about a world I’ve discovered and one you can be part of: When Just Yell Fire took off and hundreds, then thousands, and millions of people joined my revolution to put predators and rapists out of commission worldwide, I was amazed at this unprecedented response to my cause. Because of all that activity I received hundreds of invitations to meetings around the country. These meetings are usually centered on an award or scholarship for community service, but what they are really about is bringing kids together who are trying to change the world. It’s a way for all of us young revolutionaries to meet and greet; to get a break from school and work and fundraisers and catch up with each other — or meet each other for the very first time.

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It’s really amazing to sit in a room with other kids who have made a difference in the world and talk about things like cancer cures and eliminating homelessness and poverty and quitting smoking and getting relief for flood victims. These kids are just like you and me and they have actually solved these problems in their own communities. We’re not just talking pie-in-the-sky theories or warm and fuzzy wannabes; these are Young Revolutionaries Who Rock!

In just the past couple of years I’ve become part of this brave new world and have met some phenomenal people along the way:

•   I met a guy from Canada who was bullied by kids and even bullied by his TEACHERS when he was growing up because he was different from them. He started an organization to teach people tolerance. He soon had 300 people working for him and has a million others helping him now — he is a Revolutionary.

•   I met a high school student from South Carolina who found out about a school in India without books, without desks and without electricity. He called companies around the US, and now spends his summers delivering container loads of supplies to this school and others like it in India — he is a Revolutionary.

•   One girl figured out how to communicate with autistic kids. She’s spreading the word, and parents, doctors, and teachers all over the world are listening — she is a Revolutionary.

•   One girl sent a few CDs and DVDs to the troops overseas. The response she got was so overwhelming that she started a non-profit organization to encourage other people to provide more gifts for more soldiers — she is a Revolutionary.

And I have hundreds of stories just like these; stories of modern revolutionaries who couldn’t wait any longer and decided to fight for their right to a better world.

Kids are taking on world hunger, speeding up the search for cures to horrible diseases and standing up for the environment. We are teaching other kids about the dangers of smoking, the effects of drugs, and the problem of underage drinking. We are doing what adults can’t, won’t or just plain don’t. So there are thousands of kids changing the world — all different colors and shapes and sizes and zip codes — and do you know what they all have in common?

They all started out in middle school or in high school. Most weren’t old enough to drive; they had never given a speech or held a public office; they weren’t the best students or the best athletes; they were just everyday, normal, average kids. Kids like me; kids like you. But the other thing they had in common was that they all saw a problem and decided to do something about it. They went from being kids to become Young Revolutionaries Who Rock.

Excerpted from “Young Revolutionaries Who Rock” by Dallas Jessup. Copyright (c) 2009, reprinted with permission from Sutton Hart Press.

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