Youth Movement in Mexico: A reflection by Nijohua
Throughout time, Mexico has faced a lot of intense situations where social Contract has been broken. There was a time when people were in a survival mode -- taking care, and protecting only those in their very closest social circle, ultimately, leading the Mexican society to grow up under an environment where empathy to strangers was no longer part of it. Nevertheless, the continuous episodes of violence, discrimination, and injustice have awakened manyyoung students' spirit to change their city. In the last few years, we have seen an increasing youth movement in Mexico, which is having a symbolic impact all over the country. Young people are asking, “How can we take an active role in improving the wellbeing of our society?”
In a virtual reunion organised as part of the Wayfinder 2020, a few young people in Ciudad Juarez formed a social innovation group called Nijohua and discussed the country’s different active social projects. The outcome was fascinating: We discovered that in ancient Mexico, the miners and natives movements were dissolved by The Spanish conquerors by using Catholic images such as Our Lady of Guadalupe (Santillan, 2018). We agreed that in the present times, the Catholic religion might be one of the region’s most significant youth movements. As Mexicans, we have seen the influence of churches in moving masses and giving as much as they can. They are the greatest models in the country that actually motivates people to act in favor of others.
On the other hand, the feminist movement has lately been taking a strong relevance in the state's decisions. Young female activists are making history; they are becoming one of many Mexican social movements that greatly impacted the country. Just to give an example, on March 4th, 2020, there was a national strike where women were encouraged to have “A day without them” (Villegas & Semple, 2020). Many female workers, wives, students and daughters disappeared for a whole day giving meaning to the importance of having equal rights and stopping sexual harassment. It was a movement with a significant impact that will be remembered as an historic event under the name of “#UnDíaSinNosotras” (“#ADayWithoutUs” ).
Through SIX Wayfinder we also connected with international organizations e.g., 100in1day and Youth Climate Lab. Thus, we learned about how these youth groups carry out their projects, how they use their resources to create an impact.
Discussing with them, we also confirmed that Social Innovation is only one movement. Culture, resources, lifestyle and more, may influence the decisions depending on the local context, but at the end of the day, there are always going to be people interested in helping others. As someone from the Youth Climate Lab said, “we just have to show the youth how the world they want looks and they will build it.”
As all these movements in Mexico and around the world have been fighting to improve their cities and the country, we have been inspired to replicate their steps. Juarez has suffered enough during the last decades. By creating Nijohua, we seek to move towards progress. We are imagining a city where we are not afraid, everyone is willing to help, and the surroundings are beautiful. We are continuously working, so our perfect city is not just a dream but a reality. One day, we would accomplish our goals, and we hope to inspire others to do the same as we were inspired by groups such as 100in1day.
Retrieved from a virtual meeting with Alejandra Flores, Lesly Gurrola and Antonio Castro, founding members of Nijohua.
References
Maria Luisa Santillan. (01/10/2018). Especial México 68. Movimientos sociales: acción colectiva y transformadora. 04/12/2020, de UNAM Sitio web:
Paulina Villegas y Kirk Semple. (21/02/2020). Un día sin mujeres en México como señal de protesta. 04/12/2020, de The New York Times Sitio web:
https://www.nytimes.com/es/2020/02/27/espanol/america-latina/un-dia-sin-nosotras-mexico.html