RISE UP: CELEBRATING YOUNG LEADER ACTIVISTS – Zachary Wood, age 22

Brian Prowse-Gany and Joyzel Acevedo
·Producers

From the civil rights movement to the Vietnam War protests and the fight for women’s rights, the youth of America have been at the forefront of leading and advocating for social change, and the young people of today are no different. In a new series titled RISE UP: Celebrating Young Leader Activists, Yahoo News profiles five up-and-coming leaders from the Gen Z and millennial generations, with our third installment featuring 22-year-old Zachary Wood of Potomac, Md.

As a teenager, Zachary Wood attended a predominantly white high school in Potomac, Maryland, where he says he frequently encountered passive aggressive forms of racism from his peers. As one of the only black students, he began to noticed that his white classmates automatically assumed he was into basketball or rap music, solely based on the color of his skin. “These types of things, while harmless, were things I had to deal with on a regular basis.” Zachary recalls.

Even though he was initially taken aback by these comments, he was taught by his mother to approach these awkward situations with an open mind. “There is always something to learn from the perspectives of others” she would tell Zachary. Rather than becoming confrontational, Zachary decided to take the high road by engaging in conversation, to hear and learn from others about their thoughts and perspectives and to share his own.

While attending Williams College in Massachusetts, Zachary began to engage outspoken people who shared opposing viewpoints. From white supremacists to climate change deniers to misogynists, Zachary would keep these exchanges civil, while still defending his ideas. “Engaging in people with opposing viewpoints helps develop a deeper understanding of humanity,” says Zachary, ”tuning out these opposing viewpoints does not make them go away.” He believes that it is perfectly normal for people to retreat into the areas that make them feel safe and normal and to resist ideas that make them feel uncomfortable, which is why he believes it’s so important to open channels of dialogue.

Zachary’s effort to promote what he calls “viewpoint diversity” has led him down a unique path. Since 2016, he has attended a number of academic conferences, testified in front of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and recently discussed his conversations and interactions in college during a Ted Talk.

During his junior year in college, the Washington Post ran an op-ed he wrote, which in turn led to his first book deal. Zachary published his memoir, Uncensored, this summer following his college graduation. Currently, Zachary is a columnist and assistant opinion editor at The Guardian and a Robert L. Bartley Fellow at The Wall Street Journal.

“I think it’s very important for the youth to develop a voice, and to have an opportunity to share their views on important subjects.” states Zachary. “Because in 10, 20, 30 years, they’re gonna be the ones who are really out in the world pursuing change.”