This World Day of Social Justice Day, Fight for Peace stands with communities all over the world to recognise the ever-growing importance of a world which allows everybody to access equal opportunities and resources in society, without facing discrimination.
Though, we do understand that social justice can be quite a broad term, and as individuals we can have our own unique interpretations of the meaning. That’s why we checked in with some of our young members to hear their take on what social justice looks like to them, by asking – if you could change anything in the world, what would it be?
Fight for Peace member and boxing athlete, Gabriel shared his thoughts with us, explaining “if I could change one thing about the world it would be ego. Lots of people are way too full of themselves, or think they are better than other people.”
“I would tell people that not everyone has had the same opportunities and advantages as you, as that’s not something a lot of people realise. Or that they need to be a bit more down to earth to realise they are no better than anybody else.”
We appreciate Gabriel’s insight, and agree that it’s important to understand these factors, no matter who we are. Teammate Zee brought a slightly different perspective, highlighting the inequalities seen in the distribution of wealth.
“Getting money needs to be a bit easier, it can be a bit hard. The things they make us do in the world to get money is long. There should be more options,” Zee told us.
“When you walk [outside], especially where I live in Newham, there are a lot of people living on the streets. Even people who served the country in the military end up being homeless, so there should definitely be more options for making money – it would make life a lot easier.”
That brings us to Eugene, whose vision for change is more directed towards the opportunities available through education.
“It can be difficult to get some sort of [specific] education. For example, I want to study architecture [at college], but it’s a bit long to do, because there’s no special courses in the colleges for these things.”
Whereas Nawal told us that if she could, she would change the level of greed in the world. “That way we wouldn’t have poor people any more. I would make sure there is no one on the street, everyone has a job, salaries are being paid well, everyone is getting the help that they need. Not just the country I’m in – I’d like to help all over the world,” Nawal explained.
It’s clear that ending world poverty, and providing people all around the world with access to equal opportunities is important to our young people. And we are proud to hear and give a platform to these views and opinions.
Amali also followed suit, explaining that he would “choose to help others to find it in themselves to tap into their abilities, because that is pure discipline and pure strength.”
“I would also love it if one day, gangs put down their knives and picked up the bible.”
“[To do this] I could learn from friends around me who have been there, people who are successful and who have already achieved these things in life. They can help me, because they’ve already been at this place.”
We are grateful to be able to engage in such important discussions with young people who carry such empowering mindsets. There is so much we can learn and be inspired by as a result of listening to the next generation of world leaders, and these conversations give us hope for the future of social justice worldwide.
Thank you to all of the young people who shared their views and opinions. To see more coverage for World Day of Social Justice, you can head to our Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube pages for content created by our Young Creatives.