--- title: Trevor Noah: Why Millennials Give Me Hope for the Future description: The Daily Show host Trevor Noah explains why millennials give him hope for creating change, despite people mocking the generation. canonical: https://time.com/5087341/trevor-noah-optimist/ author: Trevor Noah article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-04T12:05:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:47.971Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Trevor Noah: Why Millennials Give Me Hope for the Future og:description: The Daily Show host Trevor Noah explains why millennials give him hope for creating change, despite people mocking the generation. og:url: https://time.com/5087341/trevor-noah-optimist/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt254d175be5c9eb8a/6988f639db2987fc8325e33e/optimist-issue-trevor-noah-millenials-give-me-hope.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3040 og:image:height: 1710 og:image:alt: optimist-issue-trevor-noah-millenials-give-me-hope og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trevor Noah: Why Millennials Give Me Hope for the Future twitter:description: The Daily Show host Trevor Noah explains why millennials give him hope for creating change, despite people mocking the generation. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt254d175be5c9eb8a/6988f639db2987fc8325e33e/optimist-issue-trevor-noah-millenials-give-me-hope.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mock Millennials All You Want. Here's Why They Give Me Hope > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=835df24c-228b-461c-a8b5-fb8341b33c16&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trevor Noah On The Best Way For Young People To Protest [Watch (HLS stream): Trevor Noah On The Best Way For Young People To Protest](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gdNIHmgr.m3u8) (1:48)  _Published 2017-03-02. Trevor Noah Speaks to TIME about the best ways for young people to protest and stay involved in politics._ by [Trevor Noah](https://time.com/author/trevor-noah/) ## Trevor Noah Jan 4, 2018 12:05 PM UTC  Trevor Noah on The Daily Show Undesked Chicago 2017: Lets Do This Before It Gets Too Damn Cold on October 16, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. Trevor Noah on The Daily Show Undesked Chicago 2017: Lets Do This Before It Gets Too Damn Cold on October 16, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images by [Trevor Noah](https://time.com/author/trevor-noah/) ## Trevor Noah Jan 4, 2018 12:05 PM UTC I grew up in South Africa [during apartheid](http://time.com/3805550/after-apartheid-reflecting-on-south-africa-20-years-later/). Black people lived in separate areas from white people. They had different rules. They were segregated. This was particularly tough for me, because I grew up in a mixed family, with me being the mixed one. My mother is a black woman, Xhosa woman, from South Africa. My father is Swiss from Switzerland and a white man. They got together during apartheid, which was against the law, and they had me. That’s really where our journey began, because we were a family that couldn’t be together. We were a family that was, for all intents and purposes, a crime. Me being born from my mother was me being born a crime. Despite that–or maybe because of that–I grew up surrounded by optimism: the ability to see the potential no one else could see, at a time when no one had the right to see it. My mother was full of optimism. She is a beautiful, powerful woman who endured a lot during her life. We lived through Apartheid. We lived through her marrying a man who was extremely abusive and an alcoholic. Through all of that, my mom had the ability to appreciate the reality of the world she was in while also optimistically pursuing the future in which she wished to exist. People always ask, Is the world getting better or is it getting worse? Depending on whom you ask, there will always be a different answer. I’ve come to find one of the reasons I believe the world is getting better is because we have access to information on how bad the world actually is. As a young person, and as someone who makes a show about the news and politics, I’ve come to realize that information is one of the most powerful tools. We do come from an age where there is misinformation and disinformation. But, now more than ever, young people communicate across borders, across continents. You see people in England and America and South Africa tweeting and talking to people in Myanmar. You see people speaking out about what’s happening in Sudan. You see people commiserating with victims of hurricanes across the Caribbean or Texas. Millennials oftentimes are mocked–people say they’re lazy, that they’re entitled and that they cry about small things (which is true). But they’re also driven. They wish to make a change. They believe that they can make a change, partly because of the information and the tools that they possess. More than ever, we see that in America. Not only are young people growing into the world of politics, but they’re engaged in a way where they understand that they can actually change the course of history, as opposed to just being a part of it. In South Africa, we see the same thing–young people standing up and saying we don’t accept the status quo, we can change our destiny, we can change the future, we can be a part of this world. You feel it. We’ve seen the devastation in the world. But we’ve also seen the giving. There is an opportunity for everyone to create change. In this new world of technology, we have the opportunity to engage with activists on the ground level. People criticize millennials for being hashtag activists. I argue that they’re hashtag activists until they’re given the opportunity to take it from a tweet to the street. And so I urge every single one of you: if you have the power, if you have the ability, if you have the information or the knowledge, take millennials up on what they’re offering. They’re energized. They’re optimistic. They’re powerful beyond all measure. And I’m proud to say that I’m one of them. _Noah is the host of The Daily Show_ ## Transcript So here is the black man in America who says, I don't know how to get a message across. I'd match in streets people say I'm a thug, if I go out and I protest people say that it's a riot, if I ben down on one knee then it's not, what is the right way? That is something I always wanted to know. What is the right way for black person to get attention in America? No peace. No joking. No peace. I don't think there is any one way to protest. There are many ways to make your voice heard. I think the most important thing is understanding that oftentimes your voice is not just enough, action is what is necessary. And as a young person myself, I know I've In privilege and that I come from a generation where a lot of things are decided by the flick of my thumb and so we have gotten so used to making it all happen by doing this that we've forgotten to do that. Hey hey ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go. Hey hey ho ho And I think that's a small difference Physically that makes a big different to the world. It's picking up a phone and phoning a congressman. It's getting involved in your local politics, it's knowing what's happening on a school board. It's actually getting involved and that's the big different. It's realizing that politics is everything that you are seeing around Not just who the president is. So for young people I go protest and if you don't know how to protest start with the basics. That is you get up you go join some people and you talk about what you want to change. You shout about it you write it on signs and you think about what you're doing. The most important thing to understand is you have to know why you're doing it. What is your. Your end goal. What do you hope to achieve. Because without answering that question. You can protest and not realize whether or not you have moved your goal forward closer to your goal. 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