#HLSUntaped: The Fierce Urgency of Now | The Harvard Law Record: "The status quo is a powerful force. It aligns with institutions to such a degree that it becomes normative. Things are the way they are because they are. Full stop. Young adults are particularly adept change agents. They view the status quo with suspicion and, often, well-earned contempt. The status quo has no self-generating authority; rather, it often assumes a set of priors that are antagonistic to many young people’s lived experience. As students of history, it is not lost on us that young people catalyze nearly all significant change. They make change happen, even when predecessor generations level critiques usually along two primary registers. First, older generations routinely critique younger generations’ methods as too radical. Thurgood Marshall criticized Martin Luther King Jr.’s methods as incongruous with the legal strategy. Even as King preached about the “fierce urgency of now,” he criticized the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee’s brand of direct action as too provocative. But, we are reminded that student protestors in the 1950s and 1960s changed America, even as their elders told them their methods were unhelpful. Indeed, without those students causing disruption, discomfort, and breaking the law, we would not have been able to attend this law school, or teach here, or enjoy the very many freedoms and privileges in America that we do."
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