By Maaike Boumans

Audio read by author

Be louder, my love
be more bold
more brave
be fierce 

it’s been a long time coming and I know you feel tired
hopeless sometimes
do not. lose. hope.
life is at your back 

Be louder, my love 

don’t be afraid when they think you’re too radical
when they claim you are aggressive
when you know you are not standing up for those whose voices are not heard
standing up for love and justice
is always kind 

Be louder my love
be bold
be more brave
don’t be afraid to invite the conversations you know we need to have
(you know we all need to have)
to ask the questions without holding the answers
that is not the point of asking the question in the first place
it is to engage
to inquire into
to learn
to relate to 

Be louder my love,
be more bold, more brave
be fierce. 

you were born that way. 

written by Maaike Boumans on July 13th, 2019 00:32 

The Next Generation for me represents not only those next in line, but all of us, no matter what age, who want to contribute to a life sustaining society. We need all of us.

Audio version of biography

Maaike Madelon Boumans, (32) grew up as the youngest in a family of four on the outskirts of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is a host, a trainer, an activist and a spoken word poet. She works internationally with organizations and initiatives around social and ecological justice. She helps them have the kind of conversations that allow diverse groups of people move forward together on complex challenges such as climate change and racism. Together with her team at Bright Future Lab she trains students and teachers throughout the Netherlands in sustainability and leadership. She has performed her spoken word poetry in The Netherlands, Brazil, Sweden, Turkey, Germany and the UK. A collection of her poetry is published in ‘En ze leefde nog’ (‘And she was still alive’) by Uitgeverij Rorschach (2018). Maaike holds an MSc. in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability. She loves long walks, live music and cake.