New Voices for the Climate Kids:
Growing the Movement through Age-Diversity at the September 20th Strike
This article was written by Emma Zimmerman in collaboration with the Sunrise Movement Chicago Communications Team
On Friday, September 20th, activists of all ages spanned westward from Grant Park, barricaded by police officers, and serenaded by the shouts of thousands. Above the crowd, a two-year-old’s pig-tails bobbed in unison with the marching feet. The oceans are rising and so are we, claimed the green construction paper sign, clenched tightly in her fists.
Two-year-old Bowie had traveled to the strike from Wheaton, IL, along with her six-year-old brother and their mother, Amber. Unlike past climate strikes, largely composed of high school and college activists, adults and young children appeared numerous at the September 20th event. In fact, Amber and her young children hardly stood out.
“If I don’t teach them to stand up now, there’s not going to be anything left for them to stand up for,” explained Amber, who had spent the entire one-hour drive into the city explaining climate change in six-year-old terms — in polar bears, in bumble bees, and in the rising tide of the family’s favorite beach.
“I spent the whole time explaining to them why this is important, what our government is doing, and why this matters to the whole world, not just us,” she explained.
Deer-eyed above the crowd, two-year-old Bowie didn’t seem so sure about this whole climate activism thing. Yet, perhaps her out-of-place-deer-in-the-headlights demeanor demonstrated the very power of bringing a two-year-old to a climate strike. Its’s devastating — devastating that parents must explain the demise of the world as they know it in six-year-old terms, let alone in two-year-old terms. It’s devastating that the people who have to deal with this destruction are young enough to only understand it in bumble bees and polar bears. When we see a pigtailed two-year-old clutching a protest sign, it becomes more real: this is not okay.
Yet, the attendance of such young children presents another, less depressing fact: their parents must come along, too. It seemed that mothers, the people who continue to bare the majority of childcare responsibilities, were especially present on the streets of downtown Chicago that day. Their presence perfectly followed the historical legacy of mother activists throughout time and place.
In the late 1970s, the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo met every week in a Buenos Aires Square, demanding the military government release information about their kidnapped children and loved ones. In 1979, the Mothers of Laleh Park gathered to protest the disappearance of family members, caused by the fundamentalist regime that had taken power in Iran. Mothers have always acted as powerful agents for change.
Still, in an ideal world, perhaps the kids would be enough. Perhaps we wouldn’t need the mothers, the fathers, or any caregivers for that matter, to join the climate fight. Perhaps, politicians would have enacted comprehensive climate legislation as soon as the kids — the ones who will face the gravest effects of climate change — spoke up.
Yet, in the eyes of some politicians, the kids are easy to disregard. It’s clear when speaking with most high schoolers at a climate strike, or listening to any of Greta Thunberg’s speeches — these kids know what they’re talking about. Still, politicians backed by fossil-fuel money will continue to disregard these young people on the basis of age. Just look at the breath and amount of accusations Greta faced for her activism — from accusations of her parents’ manipulation to condemnation of her physical appearance.
Not every fossil fuel-reliant politician can relate to a childhood passion for climate activism. But almost all politicians are parents, or aunts, or uncles, or grandparents, or caregivers in some regard. They can relate to the passion of a mother who simply wants to protect her children and ensure they enjoy a livable future. The relentless passion and aptitude of the youth-led Sunrise Movement is certainly inspiring. However, perhaps caregivers can play a helpful, intermediate role. Perhaps, when the politicians won’t respond to the calls of the children, they’ll respond to the parents.
Tammie, a mother from Oak Park, played this intermediary role at the September 20th march. When Tammie’s seven-year-old daughter watched an HBO program on youth activism, she began creating her own protest signs and expressing her desire to become an activist. Tammie decided the September 20th strike would present the perfect opportunity to put her daughter’s dreams into action. So, she brought both her seven-year-old and her four-year-old along for the event.
“I was a little nervous about bringing them, but I’ve been to a couple of other marches that seem to be okay for kids,” explained Tammie. Still, Tammie was invigorated with hope upon seeing so many young kids at the strike, and she hoped that more adults would follow their lead.
One group in attendance was particularly aware of the power of both young children and their caregiving adults. Representatives from the Chicago Childcare Collective (ChiChiCo) had set up a pop-up childcare station by the Flamingo sculpture in the Loop, the final destination of the march. There, toddlers sat on blankets, playing with toys, and blowing bubbles into the crowded air. The volunteer-run ChiChiCo supports the participation of parents, especially mothers, in racial and economic justice work by matching volunteers with community organizations and supervising kids while their parents participate in activism.
Ellie, an organizer with ChiChiCo explained how the pop-up childcare area played a dual function at the September 20th event: to ensure that the youngest people felt included in the event and to facilitate the participation of their parents.
“We see this as being essential to any social justice movement…When families, and especially women with children, aren’t given the space, the movement is missing critical voices.”
The movement-growing potential of different age groups begs us to increase the accessibility of climate activism. Yet, I have not begun to address the movement-growing potential of creating opportunities for more low-income folks and people of color to take part in climate activism. These opportunities appear ever-more pressing given that people of color experience greater environmental harm including, on average, 38% higher levels of nitrogen dioxide than white people.
Of course, the same people most affected by environmental injustice may lack the time or monetary resources to take part in climate activism. To make matters worse, low-income communities of color, especially those in coastal areas, are more likely to lack the resources to mitigate damage, flee their communities, and build new lives after rising sea levels and other climate disasters take their homes.
While the age diversity at the September 20th march is surely exciting, much work remains if we truly wish to create an accessible movement in Chicago. To all who have not yet participated in climate activism, I challenge you to consider what critical perspectives your voice might bring to the movement. If you are able, please join us — attend a meeting of the Chicago Sunrise Movement hub or visit their Facebook page to learn about upcoming actions. Then, ask yourself what other critical perspectives are missing from the movement. Help us create avenues for those voices to be heard as well.
