Maia Wikler
“Look at all of these young people! This is amazing!” An older protestor exclaimed, as our large group of Power Shift t-shirt-clad youth activists emerged from the subway stairs onto the street. Thousands had gathered at noon by City Hall in Philadelphia to march for a future with clean energy and without the toxicity of fracking. We carried our handmade signs, banners and hopeful hearts as we joined the dense, passionate crowd. While that sweltering day we marched to Independence Hall marked an end to the Power Shift conference weekend, it was just the beginning of our movement as a united network of empowered youth.
On July 23 and 24, the Northeast Power Shift convention connected rising political energy in Philadelphia to action for youth at its annual conference. Power Shift is a weekend conference to organize youth leaders and build momentum for focused and strategic efforts for justice in the community. The unique goal of this conference is the strong emphasis on connecting a network of individual activists and experienced organizers to inspire youth to build power from the ground up.
As a Youth Fellow with the Sierra Club I learned about the opportunity to participate in the conference and I was genuinely moved by the experience where I was exposed to the intersections of gender equity, sustainable development and climate disruption. Philadelphia has been home to my family for generations. My father grew up in a row home nestled in the tight-knit neighborhood of West Philadelphia during a time when families relied on fresh produce delivered weekly by nearby farmers. The skyline of Philly evoked the sentiment of a small city of brotherly love, with buildings standing no taller than the William Penn statue. It could not be clearer now than ever that my experience of Philadelphia is vastly different than my father’s in many ways. With a changed skyline marking the transition of Philly into the big leagues of development and gentrification, climate justice is at the forefront in determining the future of this place I call home. Resource extraction developments, pollution and fracking, to name a few, threaten communities, wildlife and a quality of life that is integral to the continued growth of this city and surrounding areas.
At Power Shift, I drew on parallels between Philadelphia and Colorado Springs, where I just graduated from Colorado College. While living there, a part of me became rooted in the red rock cliffs and sacred peaks of the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is a humbling region because the expansive landscape of purples, blues and pink hued mesas and rocks are a constant reminder that the world is greater than ourselves. The wonder of life on the plateau, pristine streams in canyons, pistachio colored brush, dusty red earth, cactus flowers-- all serve as an important lesson of the small species that thrive and flourish in a trying climate.
This region draws so many important parallels for us to understand our relationship with the earth and with this climate movement. It is our time to represent ourselves and demand that our future will be one in which we can breathe clean air, drink safe water, eat nourishing toxic-free foods and live a life full of wonder. Our very lives depend upon action that needs to be taken during our generation. Climate change is happening and its impacts are already in motion.
Power Shift connected local movements, like the youth climate movement in Colorado, activists and knowledge in powerful ways. I was moved by the words of German Parodi who brought to light the impacts of climate disruption upon those already in poverty and living with disabilities. Angela Vogel shared her experiences in Pennsylvania of creating safe, intentional spaces for people of all backgrounds and ethnicities to participate in decision-making and leadership roles within EDGE, an organization working to tackle fracking. Other panelists urged students to shift the institutional narratives that discourage students from engaging with the local community and to understand the intersection of racism and climate justice. As a Sierra Club fellow I have actively been working to incorporate gender equity into my environmentalism, and was struck by the many complex intersections others are tackling.
I left the conference with insights and tools on campaign strategy, bird-dogging, direct action tactics, and artivism. The fusion of well-thought-out workshops, ample time for networking, dynamic approaches to climate justice, and informational panels on environmental racism created the awareness and confidence that is integral as we youth realize our agency in the movement for climate justice. The knowledge and momentum on the Northeast will be mirrored in the Southwest as I travel to Durango, Colorado on August 18 through the 20 as one of the organizers for the Uplift Climate Conference.
Uplift, is a climate conference created for, and by, young leaders. We believe conservation needs young voices, more diversity and a focus on climate justice, specifically on the Colorado Plateau. This conference is a culmination of countless conference calls and passionate conversations since November to solidify Uplift as a movement for youth to reclaim their agency in the movement for climate justice on the Colorado Plateau.
Climate justice is non-negotiable. It goes beyond human rights, it is a natural right for all living and nonliving things. Uplift embodies my hopes, my visions and my dreams for a future in which youth voices are heard. At Power Shift, Uplift, and beyond, we are setting in motion our movement for justice for natural rights.