It was the spring of 1968 and the students of Columbia University had had enough. They’d had enough with the racial injustices of the time, enough of the bloody war of bodies and ideology that was Vietnam and enough of the older generation telling them they couldn’t make a change. In response, the students led a protest—a sit in—and they sent a message. The stakes were higher than what we see now.

Although many students in 2020 are active in social and environmental justice and exercise their right to protest, it’s not as extreme as it could be. Case in point, Columbia University in 1968.

According to a piece by John Kilfner for The New York Times, during this era, the student protests at Columbia turned into a complete campus occupation as they took over multiple university buildings, including the main administrative center. Students held the dean hostage for one day and smoked cigars in the president’s office.

This protest was interesting, but not special in its actions. Although it ended in terrible violence and hundreds of arrests when the students clashed with the storming NYPD, this wasn’t exactly unique either.

At the time, thousands of student-led protests were taking place on campuses across the country, fighting for societal injustice. In 1968 alone, there was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential hopeful Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. The fight for desegregation and the end of Jim Crow racism was still happening. There was also the fight for women’s, LGBTQ+ and environmental rights. All of this together created a state of crisis in America, nearing Civil War levels—a tension that hasn’t been challenged since.

As time went on and there were less visible injustices, American protests, particularly student-led, have dwindled down. On our own campus at St. Thomas, I’ve witnessed sit-ins and rallies against racial incidents and climate change, but nothing near the level of student generations of the past.

The urgency isn’t there anymore, but the issues still are and always will be. Although this is the case in the U.S., it’s not for other parts of the world. For some students across the globe, the protests are just starting.

Hong Kong, France and multiple countries in the Middle East and South America saw large-scale protests in 2019, continuing into 2020. The driving force of these protests were young people.

In an article for TIME, Ciara Nugent said, “Last year’s protests, spanning South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, have been compared to the late 1960s, when civil rights, anti-war and anti-colonial movements, combined with the growth of a youth-led counter culture, prompted dramatic street protests in dozens of countries.” This was on display in Hong Kong more so than any other place in part to China’s pressure on their democratic way of life.

In 2019, a controversial bill was proposed in Hong Kong that would allow arrests and extradition for Hong Kong citizens expressing political dissent for China. Hong Kong is connected to China through the one country, two systems doctrine.

While China is ruled under a socialist government, Hong Kong is able to have a seperate form of government, one that is rooted in democracy. This won’t always be the case, as Hong Kong’s democracy is on borrowed time.

After the end of the 50 years that started in 1997, Hong Kong’s autonomy will end, and it will fully merge with China. Until then, Hong Kong has freedoms highlighted in the Sino-British joint declaration, decided when the British handed the former colony back over to China. These rights have been under constant threat from Chinese government, and the socio-political bubble finally burst in 2019.

In response to the extradition bill, massive protests started to form in Hong Kong, as citizens from all socio-economic backgrounds joined the protests. These protests were the most passionate when it came to the student-led movements found on campuses.

Classes were supposed to be in session last fall at Polytechnic University (PolyU), but instead, chaos ensued. As CNN’s Helen Regan reported in her piece “Hong Kong’s student protesters are turning campuses into fortresses,” PolyU served as the primary example in Hong Kong’s youth protests and the largest source of passion for the movement. Students barricaded and fortified themselves within the campus similar to the students of Columbia 51 years earlier. They also got help from other citizens through food and supply drops and volunteers preparing meals.

The parallels between the protests at PolyU and Columbia are evident. Both examples show the younger generations taking on injustice. Despite a gap of 50 years, these events served as a step in the right direction, and both helped change their countries’ socio-economic status-quo.

Americans shouldn’t forget our protesting vigor of the past. We should instead recollect on the relevance in the movements of our history and take note of global movements currently happening.

If it means we have to shut down a campus or two, so be it. If it means we take a bus of students to Native American indinegous lands to help protect their rights and the rights of the environment from fossil fuel exploitation, then so be it. The issues are still there, and they still need people who care to do something about them.

I urge readers to become involved in the causes they believe in and to never forget the drastic change that can come from one person.

Zaid Khan can be reached at khan8548@stthomas.edu.