{"id":21117,"date":"2019-02-28T07:51:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T07:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=21117"},"modified":"2019-11-06T09:47:30","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:47:30","slug":"10-things-youve-always-wanted-to-ask-the-students-skipping-school-to-fight-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/21117\/10-things-youve-always-wanted-to-ask-the-students-skipping-school-to-fight-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"10 things you\u2019ve always wanted to ask the students skipping school to fight climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Adults \u2014 if you feel uncomfortable now, you\u2019re going to feel uncomfortable for a while. Because we\u2019re never going to back down.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Youth

Youth Climate Strike US co-leader Isra Hirsi.<\/p><\/div>\n

Isra Hirsi just turned 16 years old. To celebrate, she came home from school and spent three hours on conference calls. <\/span><\/p>\n

Isra, a student at South High School in Minneapolis, is one of thousands of students around the world planning a massive Youth Climate Strike for March 15. With a few weeks to go, there are already strikes planned for 47 countries and <\/span>almost all 50 states<\/span><\/a>. Isra is one of three organizers who are bringing the movement \u2014 inspired by Swedish activist <\/span>Greta Thunberg\u2019s weekly climate strikes<\/span><\/a> \u2014 to the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

I caught up with Isra to talk about her work as a student organizer and why she\u2019s done waiting for adults to save her generation from the climate crisis. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Youth

Youth Climate March in Washington D.C. (July 2018)<\/p><\/div>\n

You\u2019re not exactly new at this. How did you get started in organizing?<\/b><\/h5>\n

Well, I\u2019ve been going to protests since I was in first grade. <\/span><\/p>\n

But I started getting more involved in my freshman year of high school, so last year. I joined my school\u2019s \u201cgreen team\u201d and from there I started organizing on my own. I joined a coalition of youth organizations called <\/span>MN Can\u2019t Wait<\/span><\/a>, which is a whole bunch of Minnesota youth organizations, and that\u2019s how I\u2019ve been involved in climate activism. <\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BtzfoGOhYvI\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Was there a moment when you realized that environmental activism was something you wanted to be a part of? <\/b><\/h5>\n

The <\/span>crisis in Flint, Michigan<\/span><\/a> in 2014 flipped the switch for me. I remember being in middle school seeing on TV that kids were getting lead poisoning not that far away from me, in communities that looked like mine. I just thought it was horrible. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now here we have the <\/span>Line 3 pipeline<\/span><\/a>, and I\u2019ve been doing a lot of Line 3 work. All of these things are happening right around me so I know I can do something about it. <\/span><\/p>\n

How did you get involved in the student strike movement?<\/b><\/h5>\n

The idea to bring the movement to the United States came from <\/span>Haven Coleman<\/span><\/a>. I got involved because Haven DM\u2019ed me on <\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/a> and told me she was organizing this and wanted me to organize my state. I was like, \u201cHey is anyone actually helping you do this nationally?\u201d and she said no. So I was like, \u201ccool, I\u2019ll help you!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Now there\u2019s Haven from Denver, <\/span>Alexandria Villasenor<\/span><\/a> from New York City, and me co-leading the national strike. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It's coming to America.
March 15th.
@climatestrikeUS #ClimateStrike<\/a>#ActOnClimate<\/a> #ClimateEmergency<\/a>
You haven't seen anything yet. https:\/\/t.co\/67oyGGBGdA<\/a><\/p>\n

— Alexandria Villase\u00f1or (@AlexandriaV2005) February 7, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n