A dangerous myth is brewing in the US: Gen Z isn’t interested in protesting.

Hundreds have taken to social media sites to question and scold young people’s lack of appearance at recent anti-Trump protests like “Hands Off” and “No Kings.” The theories for why Gen Z is “checked out” range from the keen observation that Gen Z can’t afford rent to snarky remarks about social media-induced apathy.

We might not be at some of the recent large anti-Trump marches en masse. But Gen Z sure as hell is still organizing. We’re the generation that brought strikes for climate and encampments for Palestine to the mainstream. In the face a polycrisis of economic instability, fascism, and climate change, protests are on the rise – and are increasingly led by youth.

The difference between Gen Z’s activism and the recent large anti-Trump marches is this: we’re not simply calling for a return to Democratic party leadership.  The Democratic Party is the one that ignored our calls for climate justice and charged students with terrorism for begging their schools not to profit from genocide. Over 3,000 college students were arrested or detained while protesting the genocide of Palestinians – all under Democratic leadership.

“Young people are feeling really frustrated with the political process,” Dana Fisher, a sociologist at American University, told Newsweek in June. “They’re feeling really frustrated with the two-party system in America, and they have lost confidence in the notion that democracy in America can work for them.”

We are disillusioned with democracy as it stands in the U.S. That doesn’t mean we don’t vote – when a candidate excites us and promises to prioritize people over profit, our generation will show up. This is evident in the massive youth turn-out of canvassers and voters for socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in New York City.

But in the face of the Trump administration, and in the aftermath of brutal police repression of our protests against genocide, Gen Z’s activism is primarily focused on grassroots organizing that relies on one another, rather than a politician.

As a Gen Z organizer in NYC, I have witnessed this first-hand. Very few young people attended 50501’s anti-ICE march in July, which I criticized after for being a performative display of solidarity with kidnapped immigrants.

But when several Gen Z organizers started Liberty City, a mutual aid pop-up in a park near the NYC immigration courts, it was primarily younger people who volunteered to staff the daily space for immigrants and their families.

“Not all activism is flashy. It doesn’t always make for a compelling video or photo. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t work,” Amanda Litman, co-founder and president of Run for Something, told Newsweek in June.

Gen Z is markedly known for being the online generation – which also plays a huge factor in our style of organizing. Social media was integral to the rise and spread of the Black Lives Matter movement. As Gen Z faced violent repression for speaking up about Gaza, social media was an effective alternative to organize and educate people about the US’s complicity in genocide.

Gen Z’s social and political engagement is also reflected in consumer research. According to a 2021 consumer report from Edelman, 70% of Gen Z reports being engaged in a social or political cause, and are thus more likely to boycott companies against their values and select employers who are aligned with their values.

And Gen Z does show up for in-person protests. During Climate Week in NYC, several youth-led climate groups collaborated to blockade the entrance to private equity giant Blackstone, which is currently proposing a purchase of PNM, New Mexico’s largest electric utility. Youth organizers from New Mexico planned the protest because of Blackstone’s history of prioritizing profit over people’s livelihoods.

Gen Z is responsible for many other direct actions like this, which directly confront those in power for endangering our future. Elites can easily ignore a big march with vague demands and police permits. It’s much harder for them to ignore your demands when you disrupt their business.

Our generation isn’t a monolith. Just as there are many Gen Z organizers on the left who are fighting for our future, there are also plenty of disengaged people and conservatives supportive of Trump. But that can be said for every generation.

The viral video that observed Gen Z’s absence at an anti-Trump march was right: Gen Z isn’t showing up to those protests. But we are still fighting for our future – just in many more creative and grassroots ways that don’t always appear on camera and don’t rely on the politicians who have failed us.

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