猫咪社区

The year 2020 illustrated to the world that the overlapping issues of climate and racial justice can no longer be ignored. A pandemic that  and  that  unfolded amidst international protests for racial justice spurred by George Floyd鈥檚 killing and the Black Lives Matter movement. We are living through the climate emergency every single day.

Communities that have contributed the least to the climate crisis . Total emissions from , according to the International Institute for Environment and Development, while the U.S. and China combined account for more than 40% of the world鈥檚 carbon emissions. In the United States, Black, Indigenous, and people of color are at greater risk because they often live in areas exposed to environmental crises, such as areas prone to flooding and rising sea levels, and often are unable to access infrastructure needed to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather. The escalating climate crisis is a , evident in forced displacement and dispossession, along with impacts on access to food, water, housing security, and cultural identity. The world is increasingly at risk of 鈥渃limate apartheid,鈥� where the rich pay to escape heat and hunger while the rest of the world suffers, .

According to the report, 鈥淪tates have marched past every scientific warning and threshold, and what was once considered catastrophic warming now seems like a best-case scenario.鈥� At this rate, incremental actions taken by most United States human rights bodies 鈥渁re entirely disproportionate to the urgency and magnitude of the threat,鈥� the report states. The climate crisis is here; hundreds of thousands of people around the world are on the front lines dealing with its impact. Any notion that the climate crisis is 鈥渋mminent鈥� or 鈥減ending鈥� is a privileged fallacy.

Activists agree climate justice will not come from corporations or market schemes because these are the structures responsible for causing the crisis in the first place. BIPOC communities and youth are leading visionary solutions proportional to the emergency at hand. From mutual aid efforts and record-breaking voter turnout to successfully halting pipelines, grassroots BIPOC leadership shows that collectively we can build a just world that will sustain us. Teen Vogue spoke with young women on the front lines of the climate crisis who are dedicated to supporting their communities to not only survive, but thrive.

Amber Tamm, Brooklyn, New York

The agriculture industry, , . 鈥淲hen I think about my ancestors, they were eating ham hocks and pickled watermelon rind, very much slavery poor food,鈥� says Amber Tamm, a 25-year-old farmer and healer from Brooklyn, New York. 鈥淔ood justice was set out to talk about the inequities that the food system presents and then talk about the structural racism that鈥檚 there鈥�. But we need more than a personal revelation of anti-racism. What are we doing to pivot around these structural oppressive systems so people can get access to what they need?鈥�

Tamm鈥檚 work connects diverse communities with the earth and nourishing foods. From bringing her fresh produce to local markets to supplying communities with free food, she champions a local, regenerative food system that not only restores the environment but also restores the food security and well-being of communities of color.

For Tamm, the past year showed the power of local food and the disparities in the food system amplified by race and poverty. She witnessed her community struggle through increased hunger while also navigating disproportionate impacts of the pandemic. She was farming on a Brooklyn rooftop during the peak of the George Floyd protests. 鈥淭he constant helicopters represented the noise and movement in the city. It left me questioning: 鈥榃hat am I actually doing?鈥欌��

The integrity and dedication of community organizers  throughout the pandemic and BLM uprisings became a source of energy and inspiration for Tamm. 鈥淐ommunities are not here for the clout, they鈥檙e doing the work because it needs to get done,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚 feel myself on the front lines by asking my community and the ones leading the way, 鈥楬ow can we as farmers support you?鈥欌��

Tamm鈥檚 partner, a pivotal source of inspiration, and members of her community helped set up 70 community fridges within three months. As Tamm explains, 鈥淔ree food is a COVID response, free food should have been more heavily thought about before COVID, but . With rent not being canceled and an inadequate stimulus package, people need free food. If rent can鈥檛 be canceled, then food has to be free. It鈥檚 one or the other.鈥� The community fridges also address the systemic barriers associated with food banks.  require recipients to present an ID and address. For undocumented people, accessing food can become a dangerous risk. 鈥淧eople shouldn鈥檛 be monitored to get access to food,鈥� Tamm says.

Without barriers to access, the community fridges became a vital source of aid. Tamm described the fridges emptying just as quickly as they restocked. 鈥淧eople have to survive today, we are in the deep unknown now, weather-wise and government-wise, and as long as we are in this unknown, I want to know how I can feed people today,鈥� Tamm says.

The urgency of the climate crisis presents itself in the mass hunger Tamm witnesses every day. 鈥淲hen I was living in New York, I was hungry for three days without access to produce.鈥� Without community access to land to grow food, and with unpredictable seasons caused by climate change, sheer sustenance has become a privilege.

For Tamm, 2021 is the time to talk about structural influences that make it hard for food justice to happen. She explains, 鈥淧rivileged people in power have the nerve so effortlessly to talk about what others need to do, like how Black people need to stop eating so much sugar to stop having diabetes. I wish it was that simple. I wish I could roll into the 鈥檋ood and actually say that and have that be true. Privileged people can make 10-year climate action and anti-hunger plans because they know they will be good in 10 years. They are eating organic and regenerative food. I鈥檓 not in the space to think about 10 years; I need to make food accessible now.鈥�

Helena Gualinga, Ecuadorian Amazon

The Sarayaku people live along the Bobonaza River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. After large oil reserves were discovered on their sovereign lands two decades ago, the Ecuadorian government, without consultation or consent,  along with other regions of the Amazon to petroleum companies. With oil activity came militarization, environmental destruction, and violence on Sarayaku territory. 

The community has been adamant in its opposition to oil extraction and has a successful history of defending its territory. In 2003 the  recognized several human rights violations, including the detention of four community leaders who were tortured at a CGC oil facility by the Ecuadorian military and police, and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights handed down a sentence for these violations , according to .

Helena Gualinga, a 19-year-old Kichwa youth from the Sarayaku community in Ecuador, is following in the footsteps of her community鈥檚 fierce intergenerational resistance and resilience.

Gualinga grew up around community advocacy, watching her mother, , and aunt, , a well-known leader and advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental justice. As she tells Teen Vogue, 鈥淚ndigenous women have been fundamental in leading the fight in my territory; they were the ones who first said no. My mom is a leader in my community, she made it very clear to me to stay true to our identities. The way my mom and grandmother have been resisting their entire lives is strength.鈥� Helena鈥檚 aunt Patricia, a leader in the Sarayaku community,  for defending the rights of her people to protect the Amazon from the oil industry. . Women, especially Indigenous women, are at a higher risk when they fight to defend the land and water. 鈥淭his is something that is very serious, especially in Latin America. People are losing their lives every day just to stand up for their rights and defend the environment,鈥� Gualinga says.

For Gualinga, living on the front lines of the climate crisis means bearing witness to a multitude of injustices. 鈥淓veryone knows that people on the front lines have not contributed to the climate crisis; we have a sustainable way of living in an extremely respectful relationship to forests, rivers, and animals. We have always advocated for its defense from the oil corporations and industry. But we live with the consequences of what the climate crisis is causing,鈥� Gualinga says.

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, Gualinga鈥檚  by heavy rains that washed away homes and infrastructure. 鈥淲hen the floods happened, my community was devastated, our community was unrecognizable.鈥� The flood, spurred by  and the , is just one of many disasters communities in the region have endured. 鈥淧eople on the front lines have a very specific way of living that climate disasters easily disrupt. There have been many . People are still living with those consequences.鈥� According to Gualinga, the  to the community to repair damage from the floods, bridges remain broken and the community has been left to coordinate canoes to help children cross the river to get to school each day. 鈥淲e cannot [defeat] the consequences of climate change,鈥� she reflects. 鈥淭here is no way of stopping an enormous flood. We have this double fight going on that is the same enemy. We have to fight corporations and oil companies while climate change is knocking on our door, destroying our communities.鈥�

Having witnessed the threats of climate change and corporate abuse, Gualinga feels a deep sense of responsibility. 鈥淎s someone who grew up seeing everything that happened to my community and feeling what children from the forest feel when their home is threatened, it is part of my responsibility to my community and to the children growing up today to do something. That鈥檚 what keeps me going. Once you have seen something you cannot unsee it.鈥�

While Indigenous communities protect and , governments recognize . A  by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services involving more than 400 experts from 50 countries concluded that Indigenous knowledge and stewardship is necessary for a healthier world. Yet Indigenous communities around the world lack adequate safeguards to steward their own territories. 鈥淭he way Indigenous communities live is part of the solution. We are a strong example of how it is possible to live without harming nature and ourselves. It comes down to values and how humanity views the world. There is a connection that has been lost. These values are what Indigenous people keep alive, we have that strong connection, and it鈥檚 important to share that.鈥�

Climate change and the impacts of the fossil fuel industry necessitate the social destruction and stigma of Indigeneity, Gualinga explains. 鈥淎 tool for them to destroy us is to attack our identity to gain access to these territories.鈥� Despite everything her community has faced, the Sarayaku have remained resilient. 鈥淲e kept our culture alive, we kept our community together, our traditions and visions are still alive. We have not let ourselves lose everything that makes the Sarayaku people the Sarayaku people. That is proof of how strong our people are; we are fighting and we are still here.鈥�

Amber Brown, Dallas

Amber Brown grew up understanding the importance of community. Her parents ran a homeless ministry, and every weekend she would join them to cook free meals throughout different parts of South Dallas. Now, at 27 years old, Brown has dedicated her career and time to advocating for climate justice in Texas as an organizer with the Sunrise Movement. Climate change in Texas has meant extreme weather change and events, like Winter Storm Uri, a climate disaster that struck in February,  during frigid temperatures.

As Brown explains, 鈥淲e just experienced four seasons in a month with hailstorms and the freeze. We鈥檝e never experienced it the way we have this past month, with it freezing and then summer weather the next week.鈥�

The storm was dubbed 鈥溾�� by locals for the  of the pandemic (), and the apocalyptic collapse of essential infrastructure during the snowstorm. The impacts of the disaster were exacerbated by corporate greed, systemic inequalities, and racism. As The Washington Post , 鈥淎 vivid metaphor for the state鈥檚 entrenched inequities emerged Monday night: The illuminated Texas skylines of downtown buildings and newly filled luxury hotels cast against the darkened silhouettes of freezing neighborhoods.鈥� Brown recalls, 鈥淚t was like two different worlds. It was heartbreaking, that whole next week I cried almost every day. We were seeing homeless people sleeping in tents in snow, ice in apartments and walkways, thousands of people submitting requests for food.鈥�

Brown began organizing support after hearing from friends who had lost power. Soon, her apartment became a place of refuge for people in her community to stay and cook meals. 鈥淎ll these requests started coming in, 鈥楬ey, I don鈥檛 have power, my water is out or it鈥檚 not safe to drink.鈥� Brown began calling shelters to see if they could provide support, but many had also lost power and had no way to feed people. 鈥淚t started with us making food at my apartment for one of the shelters, and then the next day cooking for 200 people in my kitchen who didn鈥檛 have water. The next day, it was 1,400 people. Every day it escalated, we weren鈥檛 sleeping, I wasn’t working. It felt like we were trying to do FEMA鈥檚 job.鈥�

Soon, a coalition of mutual aid formed as Brown brought together different grassroots organizations to coordinate their resources and strategies to be as effective as possible. Latin X鈥檚 program, Feed the Revolution, used funds raised by Sunrise to support cooking thousands of free meals for community members in dire need.

While millions of people suffered for days in freezing conditions without access to heat, water, and electricity, U.S.  and Gov. Greg Abbott (R)  Fox News that 鈥渙ur wind and solar got shut down,鈥� blaming green energy for the crisis. After the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the statewide power grid operator, ordered power cuts to avoid a total system collapse, rolling blackouts ensued.

Texas had time to prepare for this but chose not to. . At the time,  called for Texas to winterize the power grid, but that never happened. Ten years later,  happened in large part because of privatization and Texas evading federal regulation of its power industry, The New York Times reported. 鈥淥ur politicians are heavily influenced by the fossil fuel industry, at the end of the day for the fossil fuel industry profit is the bottom line for them while people without privilege are clearly suffering,鈥� Brown says. The Washington Post recently  that 鈥渁t least 13 members of the Texas Legislature who regularly weigh in on energy-related issues through their committee assignments draw some form of personal income from oil and gas.鈥�

As Brown tells Teen Vogue, 鈥淭o be on the front lines of the climate crisis feels like our political leaders do not listen and do not care if we survive. I know young people feel that in Texas. I think as young people, our experience in this climate crisis is enough and should empower all of us to get involved. Our future needs to be us deciding, not these folks deciding for us. We have seen the crisis in this snowstorm and it is only going to get worse.鈥�

This story originally appeared in and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.