The heart of the debt crisis is the fact that higher education has become incredibly unaffordable and inaccessible due to decades of divestment from federal and state governments. Simultaneously, the cost of living and inflation continued to increase while wages stagnated.   

A quality higher education shouldn’t only be accessible to the rich; cost should never be a barrier to an educational path and future. Debt cancellation and making college free are two sides of the same coin–both are key to making higher education equitable across racial, gender, and economic groups. #FreeCollege is a social, economic, and racial justice issue. 

There are already several #FreeCollege proposals on the table. We have the momentum and a future without student debt is within our grasp.

If we take action, we can create change.

Amplify this on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post ACTION TOOLKIT: Debt-Free College for All appeared first on Generation Progress.

Young people care about the climate crisis. We know that our generations are going to be the most impacted by its devastating effects if urgent action isn"t taken quickly. The cost–in dollars, lives, and resources–of climate inaction far outpaces the cost of taking action now. As of July 9, 2021, National Centers for Environmental Information reports that the costs of extreme weather and natural disasters have cost the U.S. over $8B. It is critical that Congress invest in mitigation and prevention now to deliver on the commitments made in President Biden"s Build Back Better agenda and protect our futures.

Use the buttons below to learn more about the climate crisis and the many issues that intersect with it, and then take action by using our tool to email your elected representatives and demand they take bold action to solve the climate crisis. 

Interested in learning even more? Check out these additional resources from the Generation Progress team:

• The Leslie Marshall Show: Earth Day and the Fight For Environmental Justice
• The Leslie Marshall Show: Getting Out The Facts On Climate Denial
• The Leslie Marshall Show: Wildfires–Climate Change + Criminal Justice Reform
• Weathering the Storm: How Companies Profit off of Natural Disasters and Young People"s Economic Instability
• Yes, You Can Protect The Economy And The Planet

The post TOOLKIT: Take Action to Fight Climate Change Now appeared first on Generation Progress.

This is a system that disproportionately affects young people, and especially young people of color. Young people–those ages 18 to 35–make up only 30 percent of the U.S. adult population, yet they represent 60 percent of adult arrests and 42 percent of adult prison admissions. The consequences of an arrest or conviction can create lifelong barriers to accessing education, housing, and equitable employment opportunities. The impacts of this fall hardest on Black and Latinx communities and it has had a devastating impact on their long-term safety and stability.

But it doesn"t have to be this way. Your elected state officials control a large portion of what causes mass incarceration, plus they can determine how this system operates. State legislators, along with governors, can have the greatest impact on shrinking the criminal legal system and mitigating its harms.  

Amplify this on Twitter and Instagram.

The post RESOURCE TOOLKIT: Take Action to End Mass Criminalization & Incarceration appeared first on Generation Progress.

In 38 states, the most important figure in protecting fair access to the ballot box is your secretary of state. In Alaska and Utah, the lieutenant governors serve this function, and in ten other states, there is another official with this responsibility.

Your secretary of state or chief election official has tremendous power and responsibility to provide free, fair, and safe elections. In fact, in most states, this official can: 

• make online voter registration and same-day registration available to all eligible voters;
• provide all registered voters with the option to vote by mail (also called "absentee ballot") without having an excuse; 
• send mail-in-ballots to every registered voter with pre-paid postage, where allowable (at minimum, secretaries of state should send every registered voter an application for a mail-in ballot with pre-paid postage);
• expand early voting days and increase the number of early polling sites; 
• increase the number of polling sites on election day to reduce lines and crowds for those who vote in-person; and
• demand Congress provide adequate election funding and allocate that funding for free and fair elections.

Check out the tools below to take action on protecting eligible voters" access to the ballot box and hold you secretary of state or chief election officials accountable.

The post ACTION TOOLKIT: Protect Our Elections appeared first on Generation Progress.

It allows eligible citizens to pre-register to vote so that once they turn 18, their voter registration is automatically activated. If every state allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote, the rush to get registered at 18 during an election year wouldn"t be a problem.

Our pre-registration action toolkit includes resources that will help you advocate for pre-registration policies in your state AND spread the word to other young people so they can pre-register now!

The post ACTION TOOLKIT: Pre-Register to Vote appeared first on Generation Progress.

Our generations are the largest and most diverse in the history of this country, and the injustice consistently perpetrated by the U.S. criminal legal system is antithetical to our values as young people. It is imperative that we use our collective power to demand justice for Black Americans and an end to this cycle of state-sanctioned violence. 

Use the action tools below to demand justice for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Then find ways to take action demonstrate to people in power that we are paying attention and will not stay silent. 

If we take action, we can create change.

Amplify this on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Other ways to participate and additional resources:

• Mental Health Resources
  • @therapyforblackgirls on IG
  • @blackmenheal on IG
  • Black mental health resources from To Write Love on Her Arms
  • Black LGBTQ+ youth mental health resources from The Trevor Project
• Buy swag that gives back
  • Official BLM store
  • Trayvon hoodie – a portion of proceeds go to the Trayvon Martin Foundation

The post RESOURCE TOOLKIT: Take Action for Black Lives appeared first on Generation Progress.

Take our pledge to support young immigrants who call the U.S. home.

Once you sign the pledge, share it with your friends! Then follow the links below to join us for the #HomeIsHere Day of Action on November 12 and to support the renewal of protections for current DACA recipients.

The post ACTION TOOLKIT: Support Dreamers and DACA Recipients appeared first on Generation Progress.

• Advocate for a future free from gun violence
• Honor  victims and survivors of gun violence
• Join in Wear Orange virtual rallies across the country
• Take action to demand gun violence prevention legislation in their communities

January 29, 2013 Hadiya Pendelton was gunned down while standing in a park on the south side of Chicago. One week before her death Hadiya performed in the inaugural parade for President Barack Obama.

Following her death, her best friends encouraged their school and people in their city to wear Hadiya"s favorite color, orange, to honor her. In the sport of hunting, orange is the color people wear so they can be seen and safe from being shot.

Since then, the color orange has been the symbol of the gun violence prevention and people across the country are using their voices to: 

• Call out inaction on gun violence prevention
• Honor victims and survivors of gun violence

This weekend, show us why you #WearOrange to end gun violence.

We"ve included some immediate actions you can take this weekend below. 

You can also join us by tagging us @genprogress with a #WearOrange selfie on twitter or Instagram!

The post ACTION TOOLKIT: Wear Orange 2020 appeared first on Generation Progress.

Follow the links below to contact your legislators by emailing and calling them RIGHT NOW, if you haven’t already! There’s also so much more we can do, so read up by following the link to more resources below.

The post ACTION TOOLKIT: Support Dreamers and TPS Holders appeared first on Generation Progress.

What can you do to voice your support for change to  Congress? Check out some tools and resources from our partners and allies below. No matter how much time you have, every action counts!

The post TOOLKIT: Fix Our Rigged Democracy appeared first on Generation Progress.