Young People at the Forefront of the
Climate Change Movement
Adam Crellin-Sazama and Jean Charles
Workshop Schedule/Timeline/Outline
Welcome and Overview 1:10 to 1:15
Welcome!
Young People are a revolutionary force and have been at the forefront of many important social movements. Youth are playing a vital role in the climate movement today. The lack of respect for young people’s thinking and leadership abilities can mean that the important abilities we have to offer are underutilized. We can internalize the lack of respect and fail to take ourselves seriously, despite our many accomplishments. Racism also interferes in our building strong relationships.
In this workshop, we will:
- Communicate our understandings of young people’s oppression and internalized oppression,
- Communicate our vision for young leadership in the climate movement and how allies can support us,
- Share tools for addressing racism that we can use in our relationships and movements,
- Learn the approaches used by Sustaining All Life and United to End Racism to heal from the damage of oppression, increase our effectiveness in the climate justice movement, and prevent burnout.
Whose land we are on: 1:15
New York City has the largest number of American Indians and Alaskan Natives of any location within the United States. There are 112,000 Native Americans out of a total population of 8,175,000 New Yorkers.
Native people have a long history of living respectfully in balance with the natural world. They are the original protectors of Mother Earth. They have led the way with powerful action on behalf of the environment and efforts to sustain all life.
We acknowledge the Lenape, the original people of the land on which we meet. About 20,000 Lenape lived on the island of Manhattan for over 12,000 years living on about 80 seasonal sites. The Lenape were a loosely connected set of communities with similar cultures and languages, spread out across what is now Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley. Most Lenape were removed to what is now Oklahoma. We honor and respect them.
This land was then colonized by the Dutch in the 1600s.
Short Description of Sustaining All Life 1:17 to 1:20
Sustaining All Life (SAL) and United to End Racism (UER) are projects of an international organization called Re-evaluation Counseling. SAL and UER think big changes in society are needed to solve the climate emergency and restore the environment. We believe the environmental crisis cannot be resolved without ending racism, genocide toward Indigenous peoples, classism, sexism, and other oppressions. We think making these changes will require a large, powerful, and inclusive movement, spanning the globe. We are working to address the barriers to building this movement. We offer tools of mutual support, engaged listening, and a process that frees people from the effects of hurts and oppression. We can also use these tools to remove many of the difficulties of working together. This personal work heals the internal damage from hurts and oppression and, as a result, people are able to think more clearly about the climate crisis, build and strengthen alliances, and fully enjoy working together to set the world right. This healing work also builds courage and stamina, and the confidence that we can create a just, sustainable future for everyone.
Game 1:20 to 1:30
A quick game to loosen things up.
Rain Noises: This is a lovely collaborative way to make a rain storm, from start to finish. By slowing building sounds from softer to louder, the storm will build and then fade.
- The participants are in a circle and the leader is in the middle.
- Instruct participant to start doing exactly what the facilitator does ONLY when the facilitator faces the individual, (but then to keep making that sound until the facilitator faces them again)
- The first sounds is the wind, made by rubbing the palms together. Move slowly around the circle so that as each individual begins to make the sound you can feel the build up, until the whole circle is making the wind noise.
- When you get back to the first person, start snapping (first few drops of rain), again moving slowly so that the transition mimics a real rainstorm.
- Once you are at the beginning again, pat your thighs with your flat palms, mimicking heavier rain.
- When the whole circle is raining heavily then you will begin to make the rain subside, returning slowly to snapping and finally to wind and then little by little to quiet, always adding or subtracting one person at a time.
Moment of Silence
Description of Mini Sessions 1:30 to 1:35
- You will need a partner. Younger people with each other, and adults with each other
- When it is your turn to be the listener, you have a very important job. Your job as listener is to look really interested in what your partner is saying, and to look pleased and delighted. (model this). Pleased and delighted.
- Why look pleased and delighted when someone is talking about climate change?
- We have learned that when we get a chance to get all of those things bumbling around in our heads, when we are caring (and climate change can be kind of a heavy topic) that is a bit of hurt we are caring around with us, and that hurt gets in the way of our good thinking. So when you get a chance to get that hurt out, that is a good thing.
- And the person who is listening to you is giving you the gift of their attention to support you to get that hurt up and out. That’s healing. That’s a good thing. You get to be pleased about it.
- So, no matter what they say, even if it sounds really horrific, your job is to look what? Pleased and delighted.
Mini Session 1:35 to 1:45
(2 ways 4 minutes each young people with young people, adults with adults)
I’d like you to talk to your partner about why you came, and how climate change is affecting your life.
Short sharing in the whole group (Younger people only Describe speaking order) 1:45 to 1:50
“why you came, and how climate change is affecting your life”
Theory on YP and Climate Change, and Racism 1:50 to 1:55
- The Good News: This planet will survive
- Not so good news: Humans might not
- Racism and YP oppression, among other oppressions, are getting in the way
- Our focus in this session is on YP oppression and racism
- We want to share with you a few of our understandings of the connections between YP oppression, and racism and climate change, and a tool we have used successfully to help us address racism and YP oppression, so that we can increase our effectiveness in creating those relationships that will allow us to do something about climate change.
- YP Oppression and Climate Change
- Racism and climate change
- Disproportionate share of the burden for doing something about climate change
- The whitening of the Green Movement. (who are the people who are making the decisions about the policies and programs and the directions that we will take to address climate change. How many and how often are people of the global majority included in those discussions?
- In the US, our President claims climate change is a hoax, who denies the science behind , who has sought to strip and dismantle the EPA which could address climate, and is doing everything that can be done stripped, rolled back, programs that could be addressing climate change. We could be making strides forward, because time is precious on this issue. But not only are we not making strides forward, we are moving backward. Racism is playing a direct role in making this possible.
Demonstration with panelists 1:55 to 2:05
- One or two or three of the panelists will talk/discharge about being a YP at the forefront of the climate movement
- Their experiences of being younger
- Anything about racism
Moment of Silence
Mini Session 2:05 to 2:15
2 ways 4 minutes each
- What do you like about being a yp at the forefront of the climate movement and what’s challenging?
- If you are a YP and not yet leading, what might be scary about getting involved?
- For adults, what do you like and what gets hard about supporting young people?
Speak out from YP 2:15 to 2:25
- Any sharing that YP who came to the workshop want to do
- (adults just listen and learn)
Game
Closing 2:25 to 2:30
- What did you like?
- What did you learn?
- (Depending on the size of the group, select a few people to speak, or everyone gets a chance)
- Remember speaking order