The "Yin and Yang" of Leadership and Social Justice

Yin and Yang are two seemingly opposite forces that complement the other to the point where you can not have one without the presence of the other. The same can be said with leadership and social justice. In this case, the dark yin represents the messy complexity that can come with the territory of social justice. Whereas the bright yang symbolizes the empowerment and positive connotation of leadership. Yes, if you wanted, the two can be flipped where leadership is yin and social justice is yang, that's the beauty of it. Either way, they fit together and balance out the other.

Leadership and Social Justice are two different subjects that interact with each other in a sort of cycle, where one affects the other, and in effect, creates a change in the other. Both Social Justice issues and leadership are constantly evolving in our country as new leaders arise as new issues present themselves. While viewed as two separate entities, leadership and social justice interact when it comes to negative events that spur people into action, such as the current gun legislation rights issue. Following the Parkland school shooting, teenagers like Emma Gonzalez have stepped forward to speak out against the National Rifle Association, inspiring walkouts by high schoolers across the country. Students are now wanting to take control of their own lives, and ensure that they are safe inside their own schools, a place where they're supposed to be protected and feel secure in their surroundings. These young people have become leaders of the fight for stricter gun control, including but not limited to a ban on assault rifles and bump stocks.

This rise in youth leaders has helped to inspire a generation of young people to become more active members of society, and fighters for repayment of the lives of innocents cut short by mentally ill children, too easily able to get their hands on deadly weapons. Leaders like the aforementioned Emma Gonzalez has created a new wave of social justice controversy. Through this inspiring new wave of children fighting for their rights and safety, other students have pushed themselves to rise up and become leaders in their communities, speaking out for what they believe in, organizing rallies and protests, inspiring more and more people to fight for what they believe in- especially social justice issues, as such matters are especially important at this time in our society, like gay rights, trans rights, and now, stricter gun control.

Leadership encourages social justice and vise versa. People fight for what they love, and when they fight, they become leaders. In becoming leaders, they inspire others to become leaders themselves and educate themselves and others on such topics as sexuality, race, and, quite relevant to the present time, gun violence. As time progresses, and our country becomes increasingly more diverse, issues relating to LGBTQ + community, sexuality and gender issues and race have come to the forefront of our country's mindset, and these issues have never been more important than they have become over this last century . The push for justice would not have happened without leaders like Sylvia Rivera and all the Stonewall rioters, Phyllis Lyon, and all the members of ACT UP- though, none of these leaders would have risen up and become the leaders they were without these social justice issues rising to the forefront of the United States citizens' attention through leaders before them. In this way, are the topics of leadership and social justice in a yin and yang, cycling situation.