Our Generation: Sabrina Epstein, Maryland

This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Maryland Voices initiative at Maryland Humanities, specifically to supplement the "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. This collection, made up of stories of first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 24, showcases the experiences of young people as they wrestled with the 2020 presidential election, issues around social justice, the environment, immigration, and the pandemic.

Sabrina Epstein (00:00): Hi, I'm Sabrina Epstein. I live in Baltimore, Maryland, right now, but I'm originally from San Antonio, Texas, and I'm a student at Johns Hopkins University.

Sabrina Epstein (00:13): I do think young people have been engaged for a long time. I don't think it's all new. But, personally, I do really enjoy engaging on social media, and I have been connected to these issues that way, and it's helped me to understand how issues that I'm facing in my life are connected to bigger problems that can be fixed with policy rather than just obstacles that only I'm facing.

Sabrina Epstein (00:48): And while that's frustrating, I think it's also empowering to understand that there are systems that [crosstalk 00:00:56] sometimes but that we can also change. And I think a lot of fellow young people share that perspective.

Asset ID: 2021.03.15.g
Themes: Youth, Gen Z, social media, policy, empowerment, community
Date recorded: February 19, 2021
Length of recording: 01:05 m
Related traveling exhibition: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
Sponsor or affiliated organization: Maryland Humanities
More information: https://www.mdhumanities.org/programs/museum-on-main-street/2021-2022-tour/