by Bii Gallardo | Los Angeles, CA
Youth Climate Strike LA
On December 6, 2019, I was invited to speak at the Youth Climate Strike LA climate strike event in front of the Los Angeles City Hall. You would think I would be nervous to speak since this was my first time giving a public speech to someone other than high school students. On the contrary, I was more excited than anything. When I was first informed that I would be speaking, I tried to look up as much information about the climate strikes, the group organizing it, and what would come out of attending and participating in the strikes. What I found had astonished me. Despite it being my first official step into activism, there were many people of all ages and colors who were already doing this work. It surprised me that I never really looked into it or dove deeper into the matter.
My speech consisted of many topics including the glorification of climate celebrities. Having individual faces to a movement can be detrimental to the movement as well as make an individual a target or susceptible to harm and/or hate from someone with opposing views. Creating climate celebrities also erases the hard work or those who have spent their lifetimes towards protecting their communities and environments as well as those who have lost their lives. Another topic I brought forward was the romanticization of the climate strike movement and Indigenous peoples in the movement. I’m not sure if many people have an understanding as to why Indigenous people need to lead the climate movement but instead, they just go along with it because it is commonly told amongst organizers. As the International Indigenous Youth Council, I think we should caution being tokenized and definitely voice our concerns to our allies about how to prevent tokenization (amongst all communities) when planning for future events.
The Youth Climate Strike LA organization consists of youth with different experiences and cultures coming together. Youth Climate Strike LA is dedicated to fighting climate and social justice (which go hand in hand).
The youth decided that it was important to have a march to grab attention of companies, politicians, and stakeholders to voice that youth want “system change not climate change.”
During our march, we walked to the Los Angeles County Department of Water and Power where we took time to chant and hand in our demands to the facility. The demands consisted of 15 requests:
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Net-zero for carbon emissions by 2030.
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Infrastructure change including a Green New Deal for public transportation, an increase of “green streets,” an increase of bike lanes, and an overall reinvestment for funds towards effective transportation.
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Agricultural change including a Green New Deal for National Agriculture, permaculture. Access to healthier foods, etc.
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Full support of a shift to renewable energy production by 2030.
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Full protection and restoration of Indigenous rights.
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Comprehensive and sustainable housing.
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A transition from institutional dependence.
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A comprehensive education plan geared towards environmental justice and the climate crisis.
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A protection and restoration plan for marine biodiversity.
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A comprehensive plan to protect all vulnerable ecosystems.
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A comprehensive recycling plan to manage the distribution of our waste.
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A comprehensive plan for increased funding and disaster relief infrastructure.
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Full support of a comprehensive plan to support and aid immigrants fleeing from the climate crisis.
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An end to nonrenewable energy subsidies.
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Reparations for Indigenous people, Black people, and marginalized communities.
Upon attending the event I learned that community organizing is a commitment and a lifelong dedication but at the same time, small efforts will also make a big change in aiding the process of organizing.
I also learned to value the relationships established through networking and organizing because they will go a long way in terms of future planning for events and relief to take care of myself after organizing. From the event, I took notes and constructive criticism through Youth Climate Strike LA’s method of organizing as well as comments about my speech. I believe my biggest challenge in this experience was watching the youth climate strikers organize the event and not being able to help. I didn’t have enough knowledge or experience to help them and or give them constructive criticism or good advice.
To this day, I’ve been working closely with the Youth Climate Strike LA organization and other strikers I’ve met including Extinction Rebellion, Anahuacalmecac, and other community organizers. We are helping plan the Strike With Us Los Angeles Earth Day 2020 actions and other local community events. Being able to speak at this first event inspired me to continue creating good relations with everyone to support a healthy environment and fight against injustices in our community.
