Understanding Gen Z Voters

May 16, 2024

The campus protests that swept the nation in recent weeks are as clear a sign as any that young people are politically aware, active, and willing to put their bodies on the line for their beliefs. But as we hurtle toward another make-or-break election in November, many are asking whether this political engagement in the streets translate into action at the polls.

In a new story for YES!, young journalist and Rice University freshman Lajward Zahra explored “Gen Z’s Political Paradox.” Zahra spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about her generation’s activism and the obstacles they face to voting.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined YES! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute’s Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice (2023) and Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence (2005). Her forthcoming book is called Talking About Abolition (Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women’s Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master’s in Astronomy from the University of Hawai’i, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on “My Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host” in her 2014 TEDx talk of the same name.