The Green New Deal is catching people’s attention now because it is a practical plan to quickly begin to address the problems of a fossil fuel based corporate economy, and the consequences of that including environmental chaos, poverty and hopelessness. Monday over 1,000 young people from the Sunrise Movement which is working for the Green New Deal, flooded Capitol Hill. Around 150 were arrested for peaceful civil disobedience.
Meanwhile, incoming Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other lawmakers are calling for a Green New deal to revolutionize the U.S. economy to combat climate change.
Well, earlier this week, I spoke with climate activist Winona LaDuke, Native American activist with the Ojibwe Nation, executive director of the group Honor the Earth. She lives and works in the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. I began by asking her what an Indigenous Green New Deal would look like.
WINONA LADUKE: Well, indigenous people obviously have a lot of experience with sustainability, a lot of years of it. And so, if you look across the country, it turns out that the windiest places in the country are Indian reservations. For those of us who were at Standing Rock, Class VII wind. You know, one reservation in North Dakota, the Fort Berthold Reservation, has 17,000 times more wind than they could ever use. So, you start hooking those tribes up to the grid, which already crosses our land with some bad dam projects—look at places like the Navajo Nation, with five coal-fired power plants and four coal strip mines; look at their transition to new solar, for instance, the Kayenta Solar Project—and you’ve got kind of like a cornerstone. You know, we could call it energy justice, or we could just call it the enlightened economy—you know, really where we need to go. And then you look at the issues of agriculture.
I mean, you know, so I come from the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota, and we have a plan. You know, my plan is—first of all, I’m looking down the barrel of a very big pipeline, which is a $7 billion boondoggle of stranded assets. We’ll talk about that later. But I’m looking down the pipeline, you know, at the barrel of this pipeline, and I’m looking: What could $7 billion do in Minnesota? What could it do to make a New Green Deal?
So, in my territory, for instance, on the Iron Range, there’s a new solar plant that has gone in to make solar photovoltaic panels. And on my reservation, we are just beginning—and in February we should be operational—a solar thermal panel manufacturing facility to make solar thermal panels that you can put on the south side of your house and reduce your heating bill by about 20 percent. We have solar going in at 20 kilowatts and 200-kilowatt projects.
And then we have this larger vision, which, you know, it’s not just renewable energy. It’s efficiency, and then it’s also local foods and the next economy. Our interest in the next economy—I mean, to be honest with you, Amy, I didn’t really like this economy too much. Didn’t work out too well for my people, you know. So the next economy has to be something that reaffirms our relationship to the Earth and gives us a shot. That, to me, looks like a lot of local food, organic food. If you actually went organic in most of your agriculture, and, for instance—I just read an article—if you ate beans, you know, if we just upped the beans and diminished the cattle, you’d end up with sequestering the carbon in the soil. You know, you don’t need some guys to put something in the sky to keep the carbon out of the sky. You need to put it in the soil. And so you need organic agriculture. That’s what we’re doing in my community.
And the other thing that I’m working on is hemp. I have, for three years, been growing industrial hemp. And what I’m interested in is the next textile economy. This country, in the 1980s and the 1990s, offshored all of our textile manufacturing to Asia. And we don’t produce anything in this country. And I am a hemp grower. Hemp has three times the tensile strength of cotton. Hemp doesn’t use all the water, like 5,000 gallons of water for a T-shirt and jeans, doesn’t use all the chemicals. And, in fact, the word “canvas” comes from “cannabis.” And so, what I want to do is to rebuild the hemp industry in Indian country. And I want us at the table, not on the menu. I want us to be in the leadership of this next economy, because we have a lot of territory upon which you can grow hemp. And we can rebuild the light manufacturing industry in this country.
Like the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Green New Deal is a visionary plan to transition to 100% renewable energy. We will need to build the infrastructure, including renewable energy systems, a smart power grid, renewable energy driven mass transit systems, and upgrading existing buildings to be well insulated and energy efficient. To do this will require thousands of new jobs and re-prioritizing of our governmental budgets.
Our Theory of Change (from the Sunrise Movement Plan)
The Sunrise Movement is an organization to coordinate the efforts to articulate and get support for the Green New Deal.
Story of the Sunrise Movement
We are young people who united by the thousands to stop KXL. We joined with many nations to protect the water at Standing Rock. We weakened Big Oil by divesting billions of dollars.
Civil disobedience training
Pipeline fighter
Keystone Pipeline Fighter
#NoDAPL
(I’m far from a young person but feel a kinship with these young climate activists by having worked against the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, and for fossil fuel divestment.)
Now, we’re getting ready for the fight of our lives: to defeat Donald Trump and the fossil-fueled politicians from both parties who back his agenda.
Sunrise is part of the political revolution. Across the country, a surge of teens and twenty-somethings are getting politically involved for the first time. We don’t see a reason to choose between working on elections and creative protest—it’s obvious that both are needed. And we’re unafraid to take on entrenched elites from any political party. https://www.facebook.com/sunrisemvmt/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
“The proposal states that a Green New Deal is a “historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation.” The proposal lays out a number of policies to “mitigate deeply entrenched racial, regional and gender-based inequalities in income and wealth,” including a federal jobs guarantee, universal healthcare, and a universal basic income.“
This multi-pronged approach for a just transition to 100% renewable energy is being recognized by more people and groups. The Minnesota Climate Intervenors “show what it looks like for each one of us to have a stake in the collective well-being of Minnesota. The group is made up of diverse individuals from different schools, hometowns, ages, and racial and cultural backgrounds. The strength of their coalition shows us the possibilities for connection across difference, and gives us examples of how to articulate our own personal involvement in environmental justice.“
“The Youth Climate Intervenors have been working tirelessly to bring distinct legal arguments against Line 3 to the Public Utilities Commission. Many Youth Climate Intervenors object to the pipeline because of its impacts on indigenous land, life, and cultural resources. In fact, its construction on Ojibwe land through wild rice beds would break longstanding treaty rights and disproportionately pollute Native communities, who already face health disparities. Other Intervenors want to uphold Minnesotans’ abilities to hunt, fish, practice spirituality, and safely enjoy our 10,000 lakes. Finally, many cite the importance of transitioning away from fossil fuels to sustain our state’s healthy water, air, land, and economy for the rest of our lives and for future generations.“
The First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March is another example of climate activists coming together to promote plans to address climate change and social/economic injustice.
It will be important for those of you who support the plan to share news about it and the Sunrise Movement. The mainstream press is not likely to report on this movement. I didn’t see any television coverage of the Sunshine Movement’s activists flooding capitol hill yesterday, where nearly 150 were arrested.
Thousands of young people from the Sunrise Movement are flooding the U.S. Capitol now to ask legislators to support the Green New Deal.
#GreenNewDeal
A House Select Committee for a Green New Deal
What is the House Select Committee for a Green New Deal?
The House Select Committee for a Green New Deal would be charged with “developing a detailed national, industrial, economic mobilization plan for the transition of the United States economy to become carbon neutral and to significantly draw down and capture greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and oceans and to promote economic and environmental justice and equality.”
A proposal to form this Select Committee was proposed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on November 13, 2018. The full text is available here: http://jdems.us/gnd
Which Members of Congress have come out in support of a Select Committee for a Green New Deal?
As of Sunday, December 9th, 22 Members of Congress have made statements of support:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)
Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)
Ro Khanna (CA-17)
Deb Haaland (NM-01)
Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Joe Neguse (CO-02)
Carolyn Maloney (NY-12)
Jose Serrano (NY-15)
John Lewis (GA-05)
Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)
Jared Huffman (CA-02)
Ilhan Omar (MN-05)
Ted Lieu (CA-33)
Jamie Raskin (MD-08)
Chellie Pingree (ME-01)
Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02)
Mike Levin (CA-49)
Jackie Speier (CA-14)
Nydia Velazquez (NY-7)
Adriano Espaillat (NY-13)
Gerry Connolly (VA-11)`
Katherine Clark (MA-05)
Over 145 organizations are also supporting the resolution.
Here’s a sample tweet: I’m proud to support @Ocasio2018, @justicedems, & @sunrisemvmt’s Select Committee for a #GreenNewDeal. I encourage all my colleagues to do the same. More info here: http://jdems.us/gnd
What is a Green New Deal?
In short, a Green New Deal is a sweeping overhaul of the economy away from fossil fuel towards 100% clean energy that centers equity in its solutions.
The proposal outlines the following goals:
Dramatically expand existing renewable power sources and deploy new production capacity with the goal of meeting 100% of national power demand through from renewable sources;
Building a national, energy-efficient, “smart” grid;
upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety;
eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries, including by investing in local-scale agriculture in communities across the country;
eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from, repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure, and upgrading water infrastructure to ensure universal access to clean water;
funding massive investment in the drawdown of greenhouse gases;
making “green” technology, industry, expertise, products and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely greenhouse gas neutral economies and bringing about a global Green New Deal.
How will a Green New Deal ensure that resources are justly and equitably distributed?
The proposal states that a Green New Deal is a “historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation.” The proposal lays out a number of policies to “mitigate deeply entrenched racial, regional and gender-based inequalities in income and wealth,” including a federal jobs guarantee, universal healthcare, and a universal basic income.
What is significant about a Green New Deal?
According to Vox columnist David Roberts, the proposal represents “the first time in US history that a Democrat has proposed a plan for addressing climate change that actually scales to the problem and has some chance of influencing the party’s agenda.”
What is the timeline for such a program?
The full scale plan for a Green New Deal would be completed no later than January 1, 2020, with a finalized draft of legislation ready no later than March 1, 2020. Each goal is to be met within a target window of 10 years after the start of the execution of the Green New Deal.
Who can I contact for more information?Members of Congress and their staff can contact Sunrise Political Director Evan Weber, evan@sunrisemovement.org, 808-224-0644
The Sunrise Movement is coordinating an Action tomorrow, Dec. 10th, related to the New Green Deal. Information related to this follows. You can help by calling your Congressional representatives’ offices and urging them to endorse Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Resolution for a Select Committee on a Green New Deal. Information for how to do that is found in the Action Guide below.
“The Democratic Party Wants to Make Climate Policy Exciting” by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, Dec 5, 2018 On Monday, speaking at a town hall led by Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez framed her chosen climate policy—the Green New Deal—through the lens of gallant American exceptionalism. “This is going to be the New Deal, the Great Society, the moon shot, the civil-rights movement of our generation,” she said.
We are making history and permanently changing the politics of climate change. 18 Democratic Congresspeople and nearly 100 of the most powerful community, environmental, and economic justice organizations in the country have endorsed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s resolution for a Select Committee on a Green New Deal.
We don’t have a moment to waste. Wildfires are burning down whole towns in California, and the latest UN report says we have 12 years to rapidly transform our economy to protect human civilization as we know it. Young people carry the burden of imagining our futures under climate breakdown, and now we’re seeing our nightmares become reality.
But politicians are giving bogus excuses for why they can’t support the Select Committee on a Green New Deal. They have told us us they haven’t read the resolution yet, that they support a Green New Deal but not this committee, that they admire our passion, but that we’re young and naive and impatient.The Democratic Leadership are waiting on the sidelines and so far they haven’t had the courage to stand up to the fossil fuel lobby. They’re hoping our movement is just a flash in the pan and that they can wait us out.
That’s why now is the time to go bigger than ever. Between now and their final day on December 13th, Congress will be setting their agenda for 2019. That means we have just days to make sure a Green New Deal is front and center on the House’s agenda.
200 Sunrisers changed the world by sitting-in at Nancy Pelosi’s office. Then, only a week later, we upped the ante by visiting 150 Congressional offices across the country. Now, we need to push the envelope even further. We’ll descend on the U.S. Capitol 500-strong to tell all Congressional Democrats: We need to see enthusiastic and explicit support for the Select Committee on a Green New Deal.
There are #NoExcuses for anything less. Politicians who don’t have the spine to stand up to the fossil fuel billionaires that bankroll Congress don’t deserve to lead. The world is watching us. See you on December 10 to deliver our message loud and clear.
Green New Deal Action Guide
We’re taking action now to demand a plan on climate change that rises to to the scale of the challenge: A Green New Deal. This is the fight of our lives. On November 13th, 200 young people united in powerful action in DC. Then, we kept the pressure on by visiting representatives around the country asking them to support a Green New Deal. So far, 15 representatives have committed their support! This guide contains next steps to turn up the heat to get your member of congress to endorse the select committee for a Green New Deal.
The Context:
When Democrats retake control of the House in January, Nancy Pelosi has pledged to create a new toothless “House Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming” that will have no power to advance climate legislation. It will only have the power to “convene hearings” to talk about climate change. The committee doesn’t have a plan. It doesn’t even have a plan to make a plan. (See articles here and here for background).
Are you serious?!?! In 2018 with climate change bearing down on us, our generation will not stand for words without action. This committee (as it’s currently proposed), is nothing more than a front for Democrats to claim that they “care” about climate change while NOT making it a central part of their legislative agenda. This. Is. Unacceptable.
The Solution:
Enter Representative-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who just introduced a Resolution to create a new House Select Committee on a Green New Deal. This committee would be charged with creating a national climate plan that actually meets the scale of the climate crisis with the urgency that science and justice demands. You can learn more about the proposed Committee and its mandate here and here and read the actual resolution here.
This Committee is the real deal. The Green New Deal is the policy we’ve been waiting for. And we CAN win this fight, but only if we get a critical mass of House members to support the Green New Deal Resolution in the next two weeks! If we build enough Congressional support from key members, Pelosi will be forced to cave to our demands.
Your Mission:
We need you to contact your Representative today (and other Representatives in your State) and ask them to endorse the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Resolution for a Select Committee on a Green New Deal. We need you to tweet at them, call them, and show up in D.C. on December 10th (info here) to let them know that we’re serious about our demands.
Below is a step-by-step guide that will help you take action.
Green New Deal Action Guide
If you visit a Representative’s District Office – Don’t Forget to: Make the following hard ask of your Representative:Will you signonto Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Resolution to create a House Select Committee on a Green New Deal? Sign Everyone In who Attends your Action/Office Visit:Have everyone who attends your Action/Office Visit Text “Sunrise” to 72345 to sign in. This will let us track the number of people participating in office visits! Make sure people respond to all 3 Text prompts. Make at least one social media post (ideally on Twitter) using the hashtag #GreenNewDeal and tag @sunrisemvmt. Include your best photo and be sure to tag your Representative! Take LOTS of photos/videos and send your best ones to Sunrise so we can post them on social media and beyond! Email photos and videos to photo.video@sunrisemovement.org. Send a follow-up email to your Representative or their staff within one day of your office visit, reiterating your ask and including this Green New Deal 2-Pager.
TAKE ACTION:
1.) Choose Your Local Targets:
Make a list of the local Congress people that you can ask to endorse the Resolution. The best targets are progressive Democrats.
a.) Look up your Representatives: Go to www.house.gov and look up your Representative by typing in your zip code in the top right corner. If you are in a city and there are multiple Representatives in your area, consider targeting them all.
2.) Organize a Social Media & Call Blitz with Friends
We are more powerful when we take action together. Invite your friends/Hub members to get together to call your LOCAL Representatives (use this call tool) and tweet at them (use this tweet tool). Set a clear goal for how many social media posts you plan to generate and how many calls you plan to make as a group. Remind people to keep calling and tweeting every day!!!
You can also use your time together to strategize about how you’ll reach out to local organizations to ask them to endorse a Green New Deal, recruit people to attend the December 10th Day of Action in DC and plan out your local office visit! (See below for all three).
3.) Recruit local organizations to endorse the Green New Deal
Climate change impacts everyone and a Green New Deal that helps us achieve environment, economic and racial justice is something most progressive organization will be excited to get behind.
The larger the list of organizations endorsing the House Select Committee on a Green New Deal, the more power we have to make it a reality!
Your mission: Send this Green New Deal Organizational Sign-On Kit to as many local, state, regional and national partners that you can and ask them to officially endorse the Resolution.
4.) Make plans to descend on DC for a Green New Deal on 12/10!!
Just 3 days before this session of Congress ends, we will gather in full force to demand Democratic leaders support Alexandria Ocasion-Cortez’s proposal for a Select Committee for a Green New Deal. It’s our last chance to ensure that a Green New Deal Select Committee is included in next year’s Congressional plan. We can make it happen, but we need you there. Join us in D.C. for a training on December 9th and a historic day of action on December 10th. Victory is within reach. On December 10th, we’ll show up in the hundreds, with hope and courage, to claim our right to a better future. Learn more here. Help cover travel expenses by donating here: bit.ly/dctravelfund
5.) Organize an Office Visit/Action
Between now and the end of the Congressional session, Sunrisers from across the country will show up in person to call on their Representatives to endorse the Green New Deal Resolution. We’re going to show up at Representative’s District offices to deliver letters + pictures of what we love and are fighting to protect from climate change, and demand that our leaders support this game-changing Resolution.
Organize an Office Visit: Get a group of friends together to visit your targeted Congressperson’s local District Office to ask them to sign onto the Resolution to create a House Select Committee on a Green New Deal.
Preparation:
Recruit
The more people you bring to your Representative’s office, the more impact you’ll have. Create a Facebook Event to invite people in your community to attend your event (see sample here).
Call, text and email your friends and invite them to join you! Show them this action recap video from Tuesday’s action to get them HYPE.
Prepare your visuals & handouts:
Print the Green New Deal 2-pager to present to your target Representative(s) (or their staff).
Have each participant write a letter and/or bring a photo of what they are fighting to protect from climate change to deliver to your Representative. Bring these in manila envelopes with “Dear Rep’s Name,” written on one side and “What is your plan?” written on the other. See example here). This is important! The manila envelope has become a unified symbol across our movement — looking unified will communicate the strength and seriousness of our movement.
Prepare signs/banners that communicates your message.
Sign message suggestions: Green Jobs For All; We have 12 Years, What is Your Plan?; Step Up or Step Aside; Green New Deal Now
Sign everyone in who Attends your Action/Office Visit so that we can keep track of our national participation. To do this, do one of the following:
DIGITAL – Have everyone text “Sunrise” to 72345 to sign in. Make sure people respond to the 3 Text Prompts.
PAPER – Have everyone sign in on this paper sheet that you print and bring with you. Take a picture of it before you go into the office and email it to data@sunrisemeovement.org
Ask if your Representative is available and if you can speak with them. (Likely this will be a no. In that case, ask to speak with the Legislative Staffer who works on Energy & Environment issues, and if that doesn’t work, ask to speak with any staffer)
Begin your Meeting:
Introduce yourselves. Announce who you are and why you are at the office today.
OPTIONAL: Consider having the Action Emcee/Primary Spokesperson open your meeting/action using this script.
Share your personal stories, why you’re passionate to fight climate change, and why it’s important for the candidate to sign on to the Resolution.
OPTIONAL: Bring the envelopes you made containing the letter and/or photo of what you are fighting for, and deliver these while you’re sharing your stories.
Hand the Representative and/or Staffer the 2-Pager that describes what a Green New Deal is and why we need a Select Committee.
Clearly articulate your demand: for the Representative to sign onto the Resolution to create a House Select Committee on a Green New Deal. Walk them through how they can officially endorse the Resolution (see the 2-Pager).
Make the hard direct ask: Will Representative X, sign onto the Resolution to create a House Select Committee on a Green New Deal? Wait for an answer.
Ask for the Representative or Staffer’s contact info, and ask when they will give you an answer about whether they’ll endorse the Resolution (if they don’t give you an answer in real time).
Before you leave the building, take at least one picture of your group (and remember, the more pictures the better throughout!).
OPTIONAL WAYS TO TAKE YOUR OFFICE VISIT TO THE NEXT LEVEL:
Consider livestreaming all or part of your Office visit. Include #GreenNewDeal in the video description. (*film horizontally!)
Here is an example of a livestream from our sit-in in Nancy Pelosi’s office this past Tuesday.
Consider having people give speeches to share their personal stories (examples here).
After the Action:
Make at least one social media post (ideally on Twitter) using the hashtag #GreenNewDeal and tag @sunrisemvmt. Include your best photo and be sure to tag your Representative!
Send your five best photos and videos to Sunrise to add to our Green New Deal National Day of Action website and to send to Press by Tuesday at 5 PM (but the sooner the better!). Email photos and videos to photo.video@sunrisemovement.org.
Send a follow-up email to your Representative or their staff within one day of your office visit, reiterating your ask and including this Green New Deal 2-Pager. Then call and email them every few days until they give you a clear Yes or No answer!
Celebrate pulling off an awesome office visit/action!
After writing yesterday’s post about Young Quaker Resources I realized I hadn’t gotten one part of that story quite right. I said I realized we hadn’t invited the participation of young Friends in our peace and social justice work. More accurately, Junior Yearly Meeting came up with the idea of selling flowers on their own. It was their example that made me realize we need to include, and learn from, the work and concerns of our young Friends.
I also hadn’t mentioned that the Junior Yearly Meeting flowers project was to raise money specifically to support the Friends Committee on National Legislation’s work on climate change, an issue that has been the central concern of my life and work. I’ve struggled to find ways to bring more attention to our environmental crisis, and here our young Friends came up with an effective approach I had never thought of. Its not just that we should include our young Friends in our work for their sake, but rather to be shown the way by them. The Yearly Meeting approved a Minute about this:
Junior Yearly Meeting Addresses climate change with fund raiser for FCNL climate work.
We are deeply moved and appreciate the contribution of Junior Yearly Meeting to our ongoing concern regarding changes in our environment. Their project to raise funds for FCNL’s efforts to address environmental concerns by selling flowers was both spiritually and artistically beautiful. — Minute approved by Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) 2015
Junior Yearly Meeting raises money for FCNL’s climate work
Young Friends can also add humor to discussions. Once when I was talking with very young Friends about fossil fuels, and what can be found underground, one child went to the toy box to put on a miner’s helmet. Another answered that the underground railroad could be found.
Young people globally are working for their future.
At the COP24 climate talks in Poland, fifteen year old Greta Thunberg of Sweden said, “we can no longer save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to be changed.”
“Since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken long ago.”
“So we have not come here to beg the world leaders to care for our future. They have ignored us in the past and they will ignore us again. We have come here to let them know that change is coming whether they like it or not. The people will rise to the challenge.” Jon Queally, Common Dreams, Dec. 4, 2018
Gary Clague and Matt Lone Bear
Rezadad Mohammadi and Mushtaq Ahmad Wahidy
Kheprw Institute
Leah
Entire Scattergood Friends School marching 12 miles to Iowa City to protest Vietnam War
I know that I am not alone in wondering how we can engage more young people in our Friends Meetings and activities. In Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) we are very grateful for the ongoing participation of several young Friends. But we don’t have the participation of most of the children of our members, or other young people.
As clerk of our yearly meeting’s Peace and Social Concerns committee I realized we haven’t invited the participation of young Friends in our peace and social justice work. In 2017 I asked the youth leader to find out what young Friends were concerned about. “We are exploring concerns of our younger Friends. Junior Yearly meeting at this Yearly Meeting are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions and rebuilding infrastructure in countries ravaged by war.” 2017 Minutes of Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends (Conservative).
This past summer I took advantage of an invitation to spend a little time with Junior Yearly Meeting. We used a children’s book to help talk about conflict and war. I was a little surprised to find they could name most of the wars the United States has been involved in. When I asked what nonviolence meant, one child said “zero percent chance of war.”
I am delighted to have discovered The Young Quaker Podcast. The podcast is made by and for young Friends, but you don’t have to be a young Friend to listen.
To give an idea of the content, the podcast began with a young Friend talking about experiences that led him to engage with Quakers. One of the things he mentioned was enjoying physical activities with other young Friends, which he called “active activism.”
He also spoke about barriers to youth participation. One is the messaging related to explaining Quaker worship is unclear and much too complex. We don’t do a good job of explaining what happens during silent worship.
He also said Quakers are not good at disagreeing with each other. We are “too nice”, which is a way of avoiding confronting conflict.
Finally he said there are too many roles in a Quaker meeting, and too much structure. All that takes too much time, and results in those who have the time, i.e. retired people, often filling those roles. The structure and time also means Friends aren’t able to engage in situations that spring up quickly.
I hope you will look into these resources yourself, and perhaps more importantly, encourage young Friends to listen to the podcasts and/or read The Young Quaker. I hope we can learn from these resources, and find ways to reduce the barriers to the participation of young Friends in our Quaker meetings and organizations. Even better we can take the time, and make the space to listen to our young Friends, and respond to what they say to us.
The photo below was taken at Scattergood Friends School and Farm during a recent session of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative). Junior Yearly Meeting came up with the idea of selling plants and flowers found on the grounds. The money was collected to support the work of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. The flowers disappeared quickly, but Friends continued to donate.
Junior Yearly Meeting, Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) sells flowers to support the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
One of the things I learned from my Native friends as we walked together on the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March the first week of September, was about the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women. Many of the marchers have been very involved with this problem in a variety of ways, discussed in more detail here.
One of the main goals of the March was the opportunity for Native and non-native people to have the chance to get to know each other so we can work on issues of common concern after the March. One of the first occasions we had to do that was when several of us met with Senator Grassley’s Iowa Director, Carol Olson, in Des Moines. The intention was for us to begin what we hope will be an ongoing relationship with Carol and others on the Senator’s staff. During this meeting we talked about Savanna’s Act and the SURVIVE Act.
Jeff, Fox, Shazi, Christine, Shari and Sid
On December 6, 2018, the U.S. Senate passed Savanna’s Act (S.1942). The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to vote for this Act.
Here is the link to an excellent summary of Savanna’s Act on the website of Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who introduced the bill. Following is from her website:
Across rural North Dakota, women living on reservations face unique challenges when dealing with violence. Access to telephones, transportation, emergency services, law enforcement officers and confidential victim services all act as barriers to getting the help they desperately need. According to a 2016 National Institute of Justice Report, 56% of Native women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, and 38% were unable to receive any type of victim services. The high rates of sexual violence are closely interconnected with the likelihood of Native women going missing or being murdered, and on some reservations, they are murdered at more than ten times the national average.
Although the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 and the Tribal Law and Order Act have helped bring attention to the high rates of violence against Native women, there is still no reliable way of knowing how many Native women go missing each year. In 2016, North Dakota alone had 125 cases of missing Native women reported to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), compared to 5,712 total Native women cases reported in the United States. However, the actual number is likely much higher, as cases of missing Native women are often under-reported and the data has never been officially collected.
That’s why I introduced the Savanna’s Act in October 2017 – legislation that would help combat the crisis of murdered and missing Native women and girls.
From the Seeding Sovereignty website: “Over 90 percent of Native American women have experienced some sort of violence in their lifetime. 86% of those women are sexual assaulted by a non-tribal member. Tribal courts can’t try non-Native individuals, which means non-natives can commit crimes on Native American land—including sexual assault—with virtually zero consequence.”
At this year’s Women’s March, Christine Nobiss said, “This (Women’s) March is about many things, but primarily it is about empowering women. The reality is that Native American and Alaska Native women endure the highest rates of rape and assault in this country. Older statistics told us that one in three Native American women will be raped or experience sexual assault in their lifetime, but recently that statistic has been moved to 1 in 2…”https://seedingsovereignty.org/mmiw/
Foxy Onefeather holds a painting about this crisis by Jackie Fawn during the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March.
Foxy Onefeather
“The story of this piece is of a sister being engulfed by the blacksnake, and its poison. She holds a candle that has burned for what seem like an endless time in the darkness. Protecting her spirit are two red butterflies that carry the prayers of the people for our murdered and missing. For our women and children we must rise. For our water and the connection that the earth and women share, we must rise. For their futures, we rise.” – Jackie Fawn
As I was praying for help to find a way to encourage more of us to work harder to heal Mother Earth, I was led to discover the video below of David Archuleta singing “Glorious”. Art is usually a better expression of spiritual things we try to say.
Those of us who have been warning about the destruction of our environment have been singularly unsuccessful in persuading others to do what needs to be done to stop harming, and start healing our Mother.
I don’t know how many years I’ve been saying “we have to stop using fossil fuels NOW.” It is obvious how ineffective that has been.
As the song says, “you will find that there is a purpose. It’s been within you all along. And when you’re near it you can almost hear it.”
My experience is you actually can hear it if you listen deeply, closely enough. So don’t listen to others. Rather, listen to the Spirit that is within you right now. “It’s like a symphony. Just keep listening, and pretty soon you’ll start to figure out your part. Everyone plays a piece…”
It’s glorious.
There are times when You might feel aimless And can’t see the places Where you belong But you will find that There is a purpose It’s been there within you All along And when you’re near it You can almost hear it
It’s like a symphony Just keep listening And pretty soon you’ll start To figure out your part Everyone plays a piece and there are melodies In each one of us Oohhh it’s glorious
And you will know how To let it ring out As you discover Who you are Others around you Will start to wake up To the sounds that are In their hearts It’s so amazing What we’re all creating
It’s like a symphony Just keep listening And pretty soon you’ll start To figure out your part Everyone plays a piece and there are melodies In each one of us Oohhh it’s glorious
And as you feel The notes build Higher You will see
It’s like a symphony Just keep listening And pretty soon you’ll start To figure out your part Everyone plays a piece And there are melodies In each one of us
The recently released Fourth National Climate Assessment from 13 Federal government agencies details the damage to our environment and economy and significantly increasing damage if drastic reductions of greenhouse gas emissions don’t occur now.
“Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities. The impacts of global climate change are already being felt in the United States and are projected to intensify in the future—but the severity of future impacts will depend largely on actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the changes that will occur.” from the Overview of the Fourth National Climate Assessment.
“For the first time since humans have been monitoring, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have exceeded 410 parts per million averaged across an entire month, a threshold that pushes the planet ever closer to warming beyond levels that scientists and the international community have deemed “safe.”” Washington Post
A recent opinion piece in the Des Moines Register, “Opinion: Wind-energy expansion is great, but why is MidAmerican hanging on to coal?” by Elizabeth Katt Reinders says “MidAmerican Energy deserves congratulations on the Iowa Utilities Board’s approval this week of its “Wind XII” wind project and recognition for its continued advancement of clean energy. But without a meaningful plan to deal with its coal problem, MidAmerican’s “100% clean energy vision” is not much more than a shiny marketing slogan. A truly bright future will require MidAmerican to move beyond coal.”
The increasing militarism, tensions and despair at our southern border are difficult to see. How is it possible that our country takes children from their families? How is it possible our country uses tear gas against men, women and children? How has the situation deteriorated to the point where we build walls with barbed wire, like the Berlin wall?
New policies and actions from the Republican administration are intentionally manipulating the situation, slowing the processing of applications for asylum to a trickle. The resulting despair creates even greater fear and frustration.
The following video talks about this situation, including reports from people who have been at the border. The video also describes ways we can help love overcome despair.
One of the things I was glad to see in the video, during the report from the Poor People’s Campaign, was the connection between immigrants at our southern border, and the hundreds of thousands of climate refugees that have been, and will continue to be created within our country (and every country) by our deepening environmental chaos.
Next week will be a national week of actions by faith organizations and groups such as the Poor People’s Campaign to bring attention to this humanitarian crisis. You can find an event near you, or help with organizing your own event here: https://migrantjustice.afsc.org/
One suggested idea is to hold a silent vigil in your community. Another interesting idea described is a Jericho Walk.
Quakers, social justice and revolution 