Facing unemployment, constant exposure to grim realities and a general amplified sense of crisis, they took matters into their own hands and stormed the capital city. Swashbuckling, gut whirling with anxiety and heart racing, they hit the streets — bracing for impact. They poured into Nairobi streets, some holding up banners and waving them in the air like flags — the flags of an unstoppable army, there to spread a message of defiance, youth, the anarchy of pure heedlessness and “I dare you”! That’s a description of most of the protesters who hit the streets of Nairobi on Tuesday, June 18, 2024 in the protests dubbed “Occupy Parliament” — meant to oppose the proposed Finance Bill 2024.
Protesters display a banner during the Anti-Finance Bill demonstrations along Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi on June 20, 2024. Young people in Kenya are fed up. That seemed to be the message to the government.
As they breathed in, sucking in teargas in short, raspy gasps, they marched on — fearless. What was surprising was that a good number of them were young people. The presence of Gen Z in the protests was a surprise to many.
The Gen Z has an advantage no generation ever had as Megan Carnegie once wrote in a BBC article, “...
Technology has given young people a louder voice than ever before. Gen Z are angry — and unafraid to speak up..
.starting a life in activism at a young age — and going all in — is an increasingly common story among Gen Zers. Born between 1995 and 201.
