Goodbye Letter to Next Generation Politics

Dear Readers-- 

In this, my last letter to you as NGP co-Editor-in-Chief (I leave for college tomorrow!), I’d like to make a few brief points and give my sincere thanks to all those who have inspired and helped me during my tenure as editor. My time at Next Generation Politics has been infinitely rewarding. Getting the opportunity to read, write, and think alongside such fantastic colleagues (special shout out here to Inica Kotasthane and Simran Saini who have and will continue to be amazingly brilliant leaders and truly decent and kind people besides) has truly been my pleasure and privilege. I’d also like to give a special shout out to the tireless and selfless efforts of our adult ally Sanda Balaban, whose efforts have both made this blog, and our editorial leadership team, into what it is today. 

To honor their hard work in editing and collaborating, and the creativity and insightfulness of our writers, the following are a few pieces that I would highly recommend reading or re-reading: Scarlett Lee’s poignant piece on the water crisis in Jackson Mississippi is a perfect example of shining a spotlight on pervasive austerity that infects large swaths of America; Nadira Novruzov’s fantastically detailed piece on religion, the supreme court, and the COVID-19 Pandemic is provocative, smart, and systematic in its argumentation; and our ex-editor-in-chief (who I’ll soon be joining as “ex officio”) Alexandra Madaras’ fantastic explanation and argument for mutual aid and community organizing in the midst of a pandemic exacerbated by capitalist failings and neoliberal shortfalls. I’d also like to further show off the NGP Arts Initiative and to encourage all those who have not seen it to go and check it out. 

It is my belief that a publication by and for teenage readers is at its core a radical enterprise. Our efforts to engage, to question, and to listen are, I believe, unparalleled among publications either run by or aimed at young people. It is essential that NGP continue its efforts to reach out to the unmotivated, under-radicalized, and underrepresented demographic that is the young. 

Thank you for subscribing, reading, and most of all thinking, 

Stephen Dames 

Stephen Dames was, until today, co-Editor in Chief of the NGP Blog. He recently graduated from the High School of American Studies in New York City and is beginning his first year at Columbia University.