Being African-American in this world is very hard and difficult to me, and it makes me wonder why it has to be this way.

This is a topic very near and close to my heart. We need to make a change in America when it comes to how people view African-Americans, and how authorities deal  with African-Americans. As a nation, we must focus on this change if we want our country to be a truly equal place for everyone.

A change needs to come now – not tomorrow, not in a week, not a month – right now. We cannot wait to make a change; we must do something right now because, the truth is, time will not resolve this at all.

As a young person, I believe that I can be part of the solution to this problem. I do not need to wait for someone else to make the world a better place, for other people to change how others view me, or to do something that can effect change.

One group of young people who have inspired me to think this way is the football team from Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Some of the players – at home and on the road – kneel during the playing of the National Anthem to protest inequality in America.

When the players first did this, they received a lot of negative comments just as other protesters doing the same thing around the country did. This group includes San Francisco Forty-Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Seeing Kaepernick and these football players kneel during the anthem makes perfect sense. This is a very good way to protest in a peaceful manner.  By kneeling during the anthem, these athletes are forcing the world to take notice, and then they can use that stage to bring attention to important issues.

According to these young men, they were kneeling to extend the topic and give it a broader view, not just to protest the National Anthem. These protests are not saying that all police officers around America are substandard or racist. The goal is to bring awareness to the “fear” or bias that police have toward African Americans and bring attention to the unequal treatment of people. This generation can make a change with young people leading the way because we are the “face” of America.

On October 5, the Montgomery County Council hosted a town hall in Rockville for students to discuss issues in the community. I attended this town hall to see what would be discussed. What interested me the most is what one of the students – a senior from the Watkins Mill football team – made people know. He said that the time is now to make a change. The young man had his football teammates alongside him at the town hall, giving him support just as they have on the field. The senior and his teammates were talking about the fact that America treats African Americans badly and that they want to be part of a movement for change.  I learned that our youth can actually make people listen. I did not speak at this event but it was very interesting to hear what other people were saying about issues concerning our youth.

If we are brave and we stand up for what we know is right, we will bring awareness to the forefront of society, and then people will actually listen and make a change.