The murderer who killed my friend Charlie Kirk thought he was silent my generation. Instead, he woke us up.
When I was in fourth grade, I launched a podcast from my bedroom with nothing but a cheap microphone and a dream. At that age, most children were worried about small competition or video games. I was worried if someone would agree to get to my show. My first big guest was an emerging conservative leader named Charlie Kirk.
I remember that I typed my first message to him nervously: “Hey, this is Brilyn! Thank you, Mr. Kirk !!!” His answer quickly came: “Call me Charlie haha.” That was Charlie in a nutshell – modest, approachable and encouraging. Over the years he not only became a figure I looked at, but a mentor and eventually a friend. He collapsed in me in the kind of words that every young person must hear: “You are great! Keep the crowds and the focus. You go to places.”
Charlie Kirk painted as ‘controversial’, ‘provocative’ in the murder reporting of the media
Those were not only disposable compliments. Charlie lived out. He believed deep in young people, especially my generation, Gen Z. He saw potential in us, even when the culture told us that we were apathetic, addicted to screens and lost. He knew that if someone believed in us, challenged us and give us a chance, we could be a generation of hunters, not stopters.
First Lady Melania Trump offered her condolences to the Kirk family as Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk leaves his wife, Erika, a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son. (Charlie Kirk via Instagram)
Charlie’s “Crime”, in the eyes of his critics, was simple: defensive civil discourse. That was his mantra above all the other. He went to university campuses, not because it was easy, but because it was difficult. He stood for hostile crowds, took hours of unfiltered questions and modeled something rare in American life – the conviction that disagreement is not divided, that speech is not violence and that courage is contagious.
He once told me something that I will never forget: “The day that the civil discourse is extinct, a civil war starts.” That was not a hyperbole. He understood something profound about our moment in history: if Americans lose the ability to talk about differences, the alternative chaos is.
Charlie Kirk was proud champion of Christianity on campuses throughout the country: “I am nothing without Jesus”
Unfortunately we are in the direction of that day. For more than ten years, the left brand Charlie as a villain – lubricating him as “Hitler Jr.”, demonized him for daring to bring conservative ideas on campus, to spot him with young people who were supposed to be “owned” of the progressive movement of the progressive movement.
But Charlie would never want his legacy to be 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 never left the demands on his time, Charlie made time for what mattered the most. He turned out his phone on Sunday. He went to church with his wife and children. He practiced what he preached – first, always family. He reminded us that politics is temporary, but not eternity.
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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 a man with conviction can change culture. And he showed that America still has room for voices that are willing to risk everything for the truth.
Vigils held over us after murder of Charlie Kirk: ‘We must heal’
Now the responsibility falls for us. If you admired Charlie, do not honor him by withdrawing into silence, but by speaking with courage. If you did not agree with him, then make him debate with conviction instead of lubricating. If you loved him, live his legacy by having America talk again.
Charlie Kirk speaks on 10 September 2025 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, prior to the murder. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty images)
Because he wanted that. He did not defend free speech; He lived it. He didn’t just call for courage; He embodied it. And he didn’t believe only in my generation; He invested in us.
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Charlie once told me: “The left may have all the money in the world, but they will never work me over.” He kept that promise until the end. Now it is up to us to continue to work and survive the culture of silence that wants to close, survive and survive.
May his memory not only inspire us, but also take us to action. Because if Charlie Kirk teaches me something, it is that one conversation can change a life – and enough courageous conversations can change a nation.
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