Alina Cebotari is the second generation WAVE Youth Ambassador (2020-2022) representing Moldova.
I have been a feminist activist for many years before becoming a WAVE Youth Ambassador in Spring 2020. Being feminist sometimes is challenging because of the general resistance and reluctance towards the movement. But opportunities like the WAVE Youth Ambassadors’ initiative can provide a space where we can build and nourish a community of international young activists who, despite the geographical boundaries, face the same patriarchal challenges, share similar but still different experiences, or simply listen and support each other.
It is true that nowadays we have many challenges but, at the same time, we have a lot of opportunities that we can value, share, and build on. Gatherings, solidarity, communities, protests are some of the many forms that our everyday activism in our fight against patriarchy and gender-based violence can have. As young generations, we can have access to significant resources compared to our feminist mothers. With a click, we can connect people across countries and make our voices heard. We can learn from the experiences of whole generations of feminists and activists. Writers like bell hooks, Simone de Beauvoir, Rebecca Solnit can inspire, inform, and encourage us in our everyday activism and work.
I would like to encourage my sisters to speak up, to take all the opportunities that we have or that we can obtain and recognise what was done before us. I feel I am privileged to say this, and I recognise it. But I want to use my privilege to continue fighting for women’s rights and dignity. This is what our mothers did, and this is what we can do as part of a greater movement.