Courtesy of Mia DiLorenzo
Group of protesters at the Climate Strike
The Climate Strike on March 15, 2019
In the year 2030, I will be 26 years old.
I will have graduated college four years prior. Will I further my education? Will I have an interesting job? Will I be in a relationship? These are the questions that I asked myself growing up, when I didn’t have the knowledge or the foresight to dream of anything else. Now, the typical stressors of an adolescent seem naive and immature as I think about the impending climate crisis.
Today, I will join millions of people around the world in striking for governmental and radical climate action. Many argue that the strikes are simply a way for immature teenagers to miss class. I am here to unequivocally reject that claim.
In just a few months, we’ve been able to change the entire debate around the climate crisis. Activists have put forth state level Green New Deal bills, successfully sanctioned a climate town hall, and exposed the world to the feeling of panic that youth experience daily.
Courtesy of Mia DiLorenzo
Mia DiLorenzo at the March 15 Climate Strike
Mia DiLorenzo at the March 15 Climate Strike
I will be striking so that other teenagers don’t have to give up their free time to organize, lead conference calls, or write press emails during lunch. I strike for the people that have lost their lives due to the climate crisis and for all future fatalities. I strike to cause a mass mobilization unlike any other. I strike for environmental justice, public health, and for the future of our planet.
Rather than sitting idly by as we watch our leaders neglect this catastrophe, strike with us. Strike for the children who haven’t yet seen a reality without climate change. Strike so that others won’t have to.
Show up today at Western Sculpture Park. At 11:30 a.m., we will be marching to the Minnesota State Capitol and conducting a rally with speakers, chants, and tables from other organizations where you can support their quest for climate justice.
You may think what we are doing is special. You’re right, it is. However, it isn’t something we can do alone. We need allies to show up for us, protest with us, and then act on our behalf.
See you on the streets.
Mia DiLorenzo is a sophomore at Edina High School, and one of the organizers of the Minnesota Youth Climate Strike.
