Youthful (Re)Imaginations of Social Change Beyond Elections

Unlike electoral campaigns, which are time-bound and often flashy, community organizing demands a more meaningful yet slower pace.

- By Ferdinand Sanchez II

Often framed as symbols of hope, the youth are burdened with the unquestioned yet loudly spoken responsibility to transform society. Especially during elections, we are expected to participate actively and vote wisely, as if our vote could undo or radically change everything that has been built before us.

But what if there's too much hope yet little room to act? And when we're trying to act, the only viable option given is merely shading the ballot?

These are the reflections that shaped the core of Tara Kabataan.

We are a youth-led collective based in Manila, an offshoot of the 2022 Kakampink movement. Formerly known as the Youth Vote for Leni-Kiko Manila, we've transitioned from organizing partisan sorties and house-to-house electoral campaigns to co-organizing community-based initiatives and human rights advocacy campaigns.

Our reformation did not happen overnight. But it did start on the night of election day, when our volunteers started processing the results after pouring their hearts into volunteering.

While some were in tears and the others were losing hope, one question echoed loudly across the room: What's next?

And so, we started to reimagine beyond the ballot.

It took several months, and we're still figuring things out. Trying, failing, and moving forward have become part of our collective life.

So, over the past years, Tara Kabataan has been a shared space for the youth from all walks of life. So diverse that each of us holds a different definition of what and who we are. It could be a home, a community, a movement builder, or something else entirely. But perhaps it is our ability and inability to be all these things at once that define who we are.