This month, Rahul Yates in California writes about what teens are struggling with in terms of identity and belonging and why he started HumSub GlobalTEEN for multicultural kids around the world.
As a multiracial individual, I’ve grown up knowing that I was different than other kids who were just one race or ethnicity. Now that I’m older, I’ve been able to embrace my multiracial and multicultural identity and wanted to connect with and help others do the same. I started HumSub Global Teen (HGST) in January 2020, an organization that raises awareness about the mixed-race and multicultural communities around the world as well as highlights the stories of important multiracial people and young adults. Through this, I hope to shed light on this often-underrepresented group and increase cross-cultural awareness and acceptance around the world. Any teen who wants to apply can become a part of our team. Currently we have nearly 20 teens from around the world who work on creating a wide array of content for to post on social media. As HSGT reaches its 2 month mark for being “released” to the world, we have over 1100 followers on Instagram, hundreds of people who our posts reach, and lots of ideas and projects to come in the near future (we’re starting interviews soon for our YT channel and podcast). From my own experiences and others’, young people today are struggling with how they can be all of themselves when society is constantly telling them to choose one.
For many multiracial individuals who may look like one of their races more than another, or not look like any of their races at all, it is challenging for them to feel like they “fit in” anywhere. There are also many preconceived notions of what people of a certain race or ethnicity should look like, which adds another layer of difficulty for mixed teens (like myself) to truly feel like they belong somewhere. With multicultural individuals who aren’t necessarily more than one race but live and experience more than one culture, they can often feel like they are losing touch with one of their cultures. In order to combat these affects, allies of the multiracial and multicultural communities should do their best to lose their preconceived notions of what someone of a certain race or ethnicity should “look like”, as well as engage in the cultural activities of ethnicities that aren’t their own in order to become a more globally-aware citizen. Through these efforts, I hope that we can move forward as a society and reach a place where no one has to feel like they don’t belong.
Rahul Yates is a 10th grader at Brentwood School in Los Angeles, California. For more information on HSGT, see humsubglobalteen on Instagram.