Lorna Gonsalves

As I grow older, I find myself reflecting on the meaning of my life and the legacies I will leave behind. I think about my youth and those who valued me unconditionally, held me up when I was falling, listened to my dreams and enriched me with their enduring presence.

In our increasingly impersonal world with its huge intergenerational gaps and addiction to social media, honest conversations between youth and elders are not common. Combining the wisdom of age and the idealism of youth can help to light and sustain fires of hope and renewal.

Following a Neo-Nazi intrusion in our area in Ohio, I worked with youth who were arrested during, what they termed, “€œthe uprising.”€ They laid bare their outrage, hopelessness and despair. Interspersed between poignant narratives, brilliance and creativity shone through. Youth, otherwise silenced, used creative expression as a means to protest injustices and share their visions with the public. The idea of creative peaceful resistance (CPR)© emerged out of these and other deliberations with youth.

At the age of 63, I took a leap and applied for a State Department Fulbright Specialist Grant, using it to seed a critical service-learning project using the CPR approach. A small group of students in India responded with great enthusiasm, local artists created a stunning mural and the visions of domestic workers came to life. I have imagined campuses within which students and mentors connect with marginalized groups in their local areas and use creative expression to raise awareness and improve lives of people otherwise ignored.

What better way to prompt a change of minds and hearts and to transform the faces (physically and figuratively) of communities around the globe? Our first project is completed and I know that there will be many encores!

I often wonder as to how our world would be if more elders joined forces with young people in efforts to build just communities. Those of us who, in our later years, still dream of transformation must run with youth by our side.

Just recently, an emotionally wounded young man who had turned to drugs, texted me a poem in the early hours of the morning. He still struggles but he has found a way to share his thoughts and he continues to stay away from drugs. He along with other young visionaries have helped me to realize that we, seniors, have a role to play in healing and restoring people and communities.

My own life is greatly enriched by my work with youth. They are my muses and my mentors, compelling me to rethink old ideas, reframe questions, re-focus my energies and transform the way in which I live my own life.