It may have taken 50 years, but the museum has finally been opened, despite the struggle and criticism it faced. We owe a debt of gratitude to the generation before us for achieving this, but now it is our time to achieve.

But how can we achieve when everyone constantly doubts our capabilities and passions? If there is one thing that drives me crazy more than anything else, it is someone or a group of someones who think they know everything about everything, telling me what I can’t do, and why I should be ashamed at what I don’t know.

The “movement” has been the focus of the black community for what seems like an eternity.

We (and by we, I mean those of us that are younger than 35) have heard countless times how little our generation knows about the history, how little we respect the rights we have and how inactive we are. I disagree.

Older generation members talk about the “movement” and how it has died in the hands of the youth. But what they fail to realize is that the “movement” isn’t dead, it just looks different, and as we know, people do not like change.

If a stop sign is written in German, it may be foreign to you, but does the sign not still mean stop?

Is it true that there are not thousands of youths marching in the streets with picket signs?

Yes.

But there is a disconnect here. The older generations, and those who “marched with King” especially, get frustrated and angry with us for not doing things the same way they do or once did.

We don’t have to get up and march to get our point across, although we will still do this if we deem it necessary. We have found other ways to demonstrate like organizing social movements in mass numbers, participating in global events like “cell outs” for the Congo, creating awareness programs for issues like Darfur and giving to those in need like the people of Haiti.

Where there once were people going from door-to-door to get people to sign petitions, there is now Facebook, Twitter, and the power of the online signature.

It is much easier to manage, and can reach millions in mere seconds.

We don’t need to pace the pavement because we drive on the digital highway.

It is true; we are not all rallied around the same cause, at least not on the surface. While we may not be in the hallways of Congress, we are in the homes of the people who need the help, we are overseas in Malawi, and we are producing plays and documentaries that highlight the plight of our people.

The things our ancestors fought for someone else to fix, we have just decided to fix ourselves.

The people before us had Dr. King, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and the like.

We have ourselves.

At every program I went to, people asked me who our generation’s next leaders were. To that I say this: I don’t want to follow someone, or be the next Jackson or King.

I want to lead myself, and be the next Dexter Mullins. Our generation has a sense of individualism, but it is collective individualism.

We each have something we have to say, and something we want to see done. We are the change we want to see in the world. The movement is not in danger of dying, contrary to popular belief. It is just evolving.

If you listen to youths today, they will all talk about how “back in the day” this and that. What we mean is that we as a younger generation have gained a global sense of urgency for the movement, and not just a local sense.

The issue now is not who will lead, but when will the elders listen?

“Generation Next,” as they refer to us, are different, but we still respect those who came before us.

However, we have been taught that respect is a two-way street, and one thing we will not tolerate is not being heard.

We know we don’t vote like we should, but there are also more ways to win besides being in office.

We as a generation have a new notion of what it means to be in power and be a leader, and it is not necessarily Capitol Hill.

Inside each of us is a drive for something, and we are going to find a way to get it done, our way.

Who will lead? We will lead. Just like Bishop Desmond Tutu, we too have no interest in taking the crumbs from someone who thinks he is our master. We too want the full menu of rights.

• Dexter Mullins