Youth Rise Together helped organize and publicize the Reclaiming Our Future rally and march in Northampton, MA. We also spoke about the necessity of joining together to combat climate change in a speech at the rally.
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Our speech: "We are Youth Rise Together, a youth-led activism group devoted to empowering young people in the Pioneer Valley to resist hate and create political, environmental, and social change. We are here to learn and to lead. We care deeply about our climate and are fighting for the future. As youth, our voices are often silenced. Silenced by the people who are too afraid to hear the truth. We are tired of being silenced. We are tired of being ignored. And we are tired of hearing excuses. We are ready to fight back! Are you ready to join us? Now is the time to rise up. To speak up. To take a stand against climate injustice. Now is the time to fight for the generations who have come before, for the generations that are here today, and for the generations that have yet to come. We are fighting for our ancestors and elders who worked hard to create a world that we would want to live in. For climate heros, like Rachel Carson and Al Gore. We are fighting for the people of today, living in Puerto Rico and other disaster stricken places. We are fighting for the children of the future, so they can live in a world with clean air, drinkable water, and winter in places like Northampton. Climate change spares no one. Every movement is connected to the fight for climate justice: racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, disabilty rights, economic equality. Once we recognize and accept that all these movements are valuable, one is not above another, we can unite and accelerate towards the world we want to live in. Let’s use the momentum from today to fuel the movement towards a sustainable future. A future that would make our ancestors proud. A future where we are united." |