Be Angry, But Be Strategic: A Letter to the Youth

Trevor Noah once said he asked Bernie Sanders what message he had for young people who feel angry, lost, or let down by the system. Bernie’s reply was simple but profound: “It’s okay to be angry — just make sure you know who you’re angry at. Don’t isolate yourself. We need each other.”

That statement carries the kind of truth that our generation desperately needs to hear. Because if there’s one emotion that defines being young in Africa today, it’s anger — not the petty, aimless kind, but the deep, pulsing anger that comes from watching the same cycles of betrayal play out over and over again.

We are angry because we are educated but unemployed. Angry because the rich steal openly while the poor are told to tighten belts they no longer even have. Angry because our parents were promised freedom, and we inherited debt. Angry because in countries like Kenya and Tanzania, the price of dissent is blood.

But Bernie was right — anger alone is not the revolution. Strategy is.

The Right Kind of Anger

Our anger must mature. It cannot be the kind that burns everything in sight. It has to be the kind that builds. The kind that knows who the enemy truly is.

Too often, we waste energy fighting each other — tribes against tribes, youth against youth, men against women, the struggling against the struggling — while those in power sip champagne above the chaos they engineered.

Every time we direct our rage sideways, we let the real culprits escape accountability. The system wins when we fight each other. It loses when we see clearly.

So yes, be angry. But be angry with purpose. Be angry at corruption that robs hospitals of medicine and schools of books. Be angry at greed that sells national resources for private gain. Be angry at leaders who use ethnicity to divide, religion to manipulate, and fear to silence.

Our anger must not make us bitter — it must make us brave.

Isolation Is the Enemy

The modern world teaches us to isolate — to live in online bubbles, to rant alone on timelines, to numb ourselves with memes and trends. But real change doesn’t happen in isolation; it happens in connection.

Governments thrive when people are too scattered to organize. The system counts on your exhaustion, on your hopelessness, on your decision to “just focus on yourself.” That’s how it stays in power — not through guns or laws, but through your silence.

When young people unite, dictators tremble. When youth find solidarity, systems crumble. Look at the Gen Z movement in Kenya earlier this year — leaderless, fearless, united by truth and technology. They shook the state not because they had guns, but because they had each other. That’s the power of collective anger turned into purpose.

We are not powerless — we are simply disorganized.

Learning from History

Across Africa’s history, youth have always been at the heart of liberation. The Mau Mau in Kenya, Soweto in South Africa, the anti-colonial movements across the continent — all were led by young people who refused to accept injustice as normal.

But somewhere along the way, that fire was tamed. We were taught to be “respectful,” to “wait our turn,” to “trust the process.” But the process is rigged. The queue is fake. And the people telling you to wait are the same ones eating your future.

Our generation must learn from the past — not to repeat its mistakes, but to evolve its courage. The struggle today is not fought in the forests; it’s fought in ideas, in organization, in economic empowerment, in digital spaces, in civic action. The fight is not for independence; it’s for dignity.

We must pick up the same spirit, but wield smarter tools.

From Rage to Reform

Anger without action becomes poison. It corrodes you from the inside. But anger channeled into reform becomes power. That’s where we must go next.

Start by questioning everything — the systems, the narratives, the “normal.” Then build alternatives. Start cooperatives. Support independent media. Vote intelligently. Mentor one another. Demand transparency from leaders — and from yourselves.

Activism is not just marching in the streets; it’s also refusing to participate in the culture of silence. It’s choosing honesty over apathy. It’s caring when everyone else shrugs.

The greatest rebellion in a broken society is to still believe in something better — and to act like it’s possible.

We Need Each Other

Trevor Noah’s reflection ends with a call to unity — “Don’t isolate yourself. We need each other.” That’s not just sentimental advice. It’s survival strategy.

Because no matter how powerful one voice is, it can be silenced. But millions of voices speaking truth in unison? That’s unstoppable.

We need to rebuild communities of courage — spaces where we listen, learn, and lift each other. Spaces where anger transforms into accountability, and pain becomes purpose.

So, to the youth who feel angry, lost, and let down: stay angry, but be smart. Stay hopeful, but be strategic.

The system fears not your rage — it fears your unity.
Because when we come together, the impossible starts to look inevitable.