Why would anyone sacrifice a weekend (not to mention transportation fare and time spent organizing the expedition) to stand in the middle of a crowd for hours holding a sign, all for the sake of protesting a law that was passed in a state thousands of miles away that does not in any tangible way affect his daily life?It may seem odd, but this is what quite a few Brandeis students did several weeks ago to protest the passage of California Proposition 8, a ballot proposition that altered the California state constitution to redefine marriage as between a man and a woman only. The majority of the Brandeis campus, of course, was probably not even aware that an anti-Prop 8 rally was taking place in Boston that weekend. Even among those who were aware of it and who support gay marriage, many did not make the effort to attend.

Why is political protest so unusual, and why are we not surprised that only a small percentage of Brandeis' most political students partake in it? Surely this has not always been the case. In the 1960s-America's golden age for protest politics-millions of students rallied, lobbied, organized and marched. They went bussing to protest racial segregation, wrote articles and manifestos and gave speeches.

It's hugely unfair and inaccurate to assume that our generation is by and large apolitical and indifferent. The deep involvement of the youth in Barack Obama's campaign is the most recent and immediate proof that young people are still politically active; we organized, went door-to-door, volunteered and, most importantly, turned out to vote in exceptionally high numbers. As Obama acknowledged in his victory speech, "[My campaign] grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy, who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep."

We have proven that we care deeply about civil and political issues. It is time to show the world that we can be involved in the political process, not just by supporting a political campaign, but by exercising our right to protest and rally, which is important for the health of our democracy and even for our health as individuals.

"Sometimes people need to feel the satisfaction of screaming for causes at the top of their lungs, regardless of whether or not the protest will directly affect the issue at hand," said Carrie Mills '12, who attended the Prop 8 rally in Boston.

To be part of a movement and to fight for your beliefs carries many psychological and emotional benefits, which should not go unappreciated. But rallies and protests, though they may seem to our inner cynic not to actually have any real impact on the way politics is run in this country, can really make a difference.

"Even though they usually don't have any immediate direct results, they're a way of giving voice to a dissenting opinion and calling attention to causes that people feel very passionately about," explained Gabi Sanchez-Stern '11, another Brandeis student who participated in the rally. "Demonstrations such as the one that we attended inform the rest of the country that decisions made in California, Arkansas, Florida or wherever have an impact even in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legalized," she said. "I think that the more momentum and the louder the voices get in opposition of propositions that discriminate, like Prop 8, the more the people in the middle will realize that things are changing, and it's time for the legal representation to reflect that."

Rallies and protests have the potential to change public opinion and to place pressure on elected officials to alter their policies. They bring an issue into the foreground, and thus start discussion, which is important to have. The protest rallies over Prop 8 were reported on by the media and have already sparked a debate across the country. As Mills put it, "The recent protest, which occurred in 150 cities in the U.S. and Canada simultaneously, shows the nation that this is a serious issue of civil rights that will not go away." Through the constitutionally protected right to protest, individual citizens can help frame the debate; it is important that we continue to exercise that right.