The assassin who murdered my friend Charlie Kirk thought he was silencing my generation. Instead, he woke us up.
When I was in the fourth grade, I launched a podcast from my bedroom with nothing but a cheap microphone and a dream. At that age, most kids were worried about Little League or video games. I was worried about whether anyone would agree to come on my show. My first big guest was an up-and-coming conservative leader named Charlie Kirk.
I remember nervously typing out my first message to him: "Hey, this is Brilyn! Thank you, Mr. Kirk!!!" His response came quickly: "Pls call me Charlie haha." That was Charlie in a nutshell - humble, approachable and encouraging. Over the years, he became not just a figure I looked up to, but a mentor and, eventually, a friend. He poured into me the kind of words every young person needs to hear: "You are terrific! Keep the hustle and the focus. You are going places."
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Those weren't just throwaway compliments. Charlie lived them out. He believed deeply in young people, especially my generation, Gen Z. He saw potential in us even when the culture told us we were apathetic, addicted to screens and lost. He knew that if someone believed in us, challenged us and gave us a chance, we could be a generation of fighters, not quitters.
Charlie's "crime," in the eyes of his critics, was simple: championing civil discourse. That was his mantra above everything else. He went to college campuses not because it was easy, but because it was hard. He stood in front of hostile crowds, took hours of unfiltered questions and modeled something rare in American life - the belief that disagreement is not division, that speech is not violence and that courage is contagious.
He once told me something I'll never forget: "The day civil discourse is extinct, a civil war starts." That wasn't hyperbole. He understood something profound about our moment in history: if Americans lose the ability to talk across differences, the alternative is chaos.
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Sadly, we are inching toward that day. For over a decade, the left branded Charlie as a villain - smearing him as "Hitler Jr.," demonizing him for daring to bring conservative ideas onto campus, mocking him for speaking to young people who were supposed to be "owned" by the progressive movement.
But Charlie would never want his legacy defined by bitterness or revenge. He modeled something better: courage, faith and perseverance. Even in the most chaotic election cycles, when the news cycle never stopped and the demands on his time never let up, Charlie made time for what mattered most. He turned his phone off on Sundays. He went to church with his wife and kids. He practiced what he preached - faith first, family always. He reminded us that politics is temporary, but eternity is not.
That's the Charlie Kirk I knew. Not just the fighter on Fox News. Not just the activist who founded a movement. But the husband, the father, the friend, the mentor and the man of faith who believed America was worth saving.
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Charlie was a walking, talking beacon of hope. He showed my generation that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to speak anyway. He proved that one man with conviction can change culture. And he demonstrated that America still has room for voices willing to risk everything for truth.
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Now the responsibility falls to us. If you admired Charlie, honor him not by retreating into silence, but by speaking with courage. If you disagreed with him, honor him by debating with conviction instead of smears. If you loved him, live out his legacy by making America talk again.
Because that's what he wanted. He didn't just defend free speech; he lived it. He didn't just call for courage; he embodied it. And he didn't just believe in my generation; he invested in us.
Charlie once told me, "The left may have all the money in the world, but they'll never outwork me." He kept that promise until the very end. Now it's up to us to keep working - to out-hustle, outlast and out-talk the culture of silence that wants to shut us down.
May his memory not only inspire us, but move us to action. Because if Charlie Kirk taught me anything, it's that one conversation can change a life - and enough courageous conversations can change a nation.
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