Another presidential election year will soon be upon us. For candidates hoping to connect with young voters, there are many issues that need to be addressed.

By Darnell L. Moore | Originally Published at Mic News. May 23, 2015

Another presidential election year will soon be upon us, and media punditry surrounding contenders like Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz is already beginning to dominate the Interweb. As the list of presidential hopefuls swells, it’s time to take a look at the issues that matter to progressive millennial voters.

The millennial turnout for the 2014 midterms was 21.3% — considerably lower than the 51% who turned up for the 2008 general presidential election, but in keeping with historically low midterm turnout across generations. While some cast our generation as politically apathetic, the response to President Barack Obama’s first run shows that the right candidate can drum up enthusiastic support from this powerful voting bloc. Young voters also have been “trending blue,” according to Mother Jones, which also attributed the GOP’s big win in 2014 to the lack of millennial turnout.

For candidates hoping to connect with young voters, there are many issues that need to be addressed. The current presidential run is happening in the midst of a national Black Lives Matter movement, for example, which is focused on raising awareness of a range of issues negatively affecting black Americans. The fight for the rights of undocumented people rages on. The U.S. still has the largest population of incarcerated people in the world. Women’s reproductive rights are still limited in some states. Trans women are being murdered at alarming rates.

With so many important issues on the table, it’s time for millennials to speak up for the change that matters to our generation. Mic asked activists and thought leaders to share their ideas and visions with presidential hopefuls for #WhatWeNeed2016:

1. An end to mass incarceration, over-policing and over-criminalization

End Mass Incarceration
Source: Chuck Creekmur/Chuck Creekmur

Police that Protect and Serve
Source: Bflood28

#BlackLivesMatter
Source: Tiq Milan/Tiq Milan

lightbox title
Source: Monique Taylor-Kincaid/Monique Taylor-Kincaid

2. Equal rights for women…

3. And LGBTQ people

Laws and Policies that Work For the People
Source: Kei Williams/Kei Williams

Best Practices For All
Source: Octavia Lewis /Octavia Lewis

4. An end to poverty


Talk about Poverty! Not be afraid…
Source: Wade Davis /Wade Davis

End Poverty
Source: Vanessa Green /Vanessa Green

5. Equal access to health care

Single Payer Not For Profit Universal Health Care Coverage
Source: Ben Fisher /Ben Fisher

6. Reduction of student debt


End Student Debt
Source: Walter Cruz/Walter Cruz

7. Focus on environmental protection

8. Assurance of freedom and human rights for all

Human Rights
Source: Bryan Epps /Bryan Epps

Freedom
Source: Shikeith Cathey /Shikeith Cathey

9. An end to individual and systemic racism

Candidates Committed to Disrupting and Redressing White Supremacy
Source: Rachel Gilmer /Rachel Gilme

Fair Elections. Independent Federal Investigations Police shootings
Source: Autumn Marie /Autumn Marie

We know what we need. So tweet your photo and let contenders know #WhatWeNeed2016. Join the conversation.

Darnell L. Moore is a Senior Editor at Mic | Follow Darnell at Twitter @moore_darnell

Darnell L. Moore is a Senior Editor at MicNews and Co-Managing/Editor at The Feminist Wire. Along with NFL player Wade Davis II, he co-founded YOU Belong, a social good company focused on the development of diversity initiatives.

Darnell’s advocacy centers on marginal identity, youth development and other social justice issues in the U.S. and abroad. He has led and participated in several critical dialogues including the 58th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women; the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington National Panel on Race, Discrimination and Poverty, the 2012 Seminar on Debates on Religion and Sexuality at Harvard Divinity School, and as a member of the first U.S. delegation of LGBTQ leaders to Palestine in 2012.

A prolific writer, Darnell has been published in various media outlets including MSNBC, The Guardian, Huffington Post, EBONY, The Advocate, OUT Magazine, Gawker, Truth Out, VICE, Guernica, Mondoweiss, Thought Catalog, Good Men Project and others, as well as numerous academic journals including QED: A Journal in GLBTQ World Making, Women Studies Quarterly, Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media & Technology, Transforming Anthropology, Black Theology: An International Journal, and Harvard Journal of African American Policy, among others.

Darnell has held positions of Visiting Fellow and Visiting Scholar at Yale Divinity School, the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at New York University and the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University. He is presently Writer-in-Residence at the Center on African American Religion, Sexuality, and Social Justice at Columbia University. He has taught in the Women and Gender’s Studies and Public Administration departments at Rutgers University, Fordham University, City College of New York City and Vassar College. Darnell has also provided keynote addresses at Harvard University, Williams College, Stony Brook University, New Jersey City University, Stanford University, and the New School.

Darnell received the 2012 Humanitarian Award from the American Conference on Diversity for his advocacy in the City of Newark, where he served as Chair of the LGBTQ Concerns Advisory Commission.

This piece was reprinted by EmpathyEducates with permission or license. We thank the Author, Darnell L. Moore for his kindness, observations, research, and for giving voice to what we believe is a vital conversation.