On a recent Saturday morning in Mott Haven, Leila Tazi, who works as an environmental organizer at Brooklyn College, was among a group of climate activists speaking to an auditorium full of high school and college students about the high stakes facing her generation due to climate change. Then she rose from her seat, delivering a call and response invoked at a previous rally.
“The oceans are rising, and so are we,” she said.
The crowd of teenagers rose from their seats, fists in the air, and repeated “The oceans are rising, and so are we!”
It was a dramatic beginning to the daylong youth environmental justice symposium, organized by the storied Melrose community group We Stay/Nos Quedamos.
Jessica Clemente, Nos Quedamos’ CEO, referred to the Youth Environmental Justice Symposium as a symbolic “passing of the baton” from one generation of Bronx advocates to the next. The symposium was created to build community by inspiring the next generation of leaders to advocate for environmental justice in their neighborhoods.
“The Youth Symposium matters because it’s the youth really taking control of their voice and their power,” Clemente said.
The event was held on November 16, at International Community High School on Brook Avenue in Mott Haven. Students and Bronx environmental justice advocacy groups The Point CDC, NY Sea Grant, Treeage, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Bronx River Alliance, South Bronx Unite, and others gathered to discuss climate and environmental issues affecting the South Bronx and to share strategy and inspiration. About 100 young people—high school and college, along with members of environmental justice organizations—participated in the day-long event, which was sponsored by Con edison, M&T Bank, Environmental Justice Data Fund, US Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
“I think we saw this as the opportunity really to showcase a lot of our work and not just our work,” said Basil Alsubee, Project Manager and NYC-EJA CUNY Climate Hub Advocate at Nos Quedamos. “We really wanted to have this resonate across the Bronx by having folks that were in coalition with also present.” A goal of the symposium was to provide a forum for youth to speak with their neighbors “about the issues in a way that’s accessible and not out of touch.”
The symposium kicked off with a panel on the stage of the auditorium at 10:30am in which youth from Nos Quedamos, Treeage, The Point CDC, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice explained how they got involved in environmental justice work, and how they made an impact through legislative advocacy, arts, education, and environmental projects such as rooftop gardening.
The youth discussed how to get the word out to neighbors about their work. They spoke on issues such as gardening to combat food insecurity, retrofitting existing buildings for greater energy efficiency, improving air quality and access to clean water, and transportation options.
“We are trying to think of strategies for all of those diesel trucks that are sending emissions in the air, changing that to renewable trucks that don’t need gas emissions,” said 17-year-old Lyric Reneau, who works as an intern youth-organizer for The Point CDC. Notoriously known as “asthma alley,” the South Bronx, encircled by highways, has one of the highest rates of asthma cases in the US.
Lyric described commuting to Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists in Hunts Point everyday, inhaling the toxic fumes from diesel trucks that drive across the Cross Bronx Expressway. “I started thinking about more people who are suffering from health concerns such as asthma.”
Ly Santiago, who works as a communications coordinator at Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice in Soundview was similarly motivated.
“It is gonna affect me in my future because if I don’t do something about it and I don’t teach other youth to do something about it, then we don’t have a future to look forward to,” the 23-year-old said.
Elijah Rodriguez and Joseph Giler, youth-organizers at Nos Quedamos, led the Community and Social Web Mapping activity designed to connect people with community resources and spaces. The group created their own social web maps, connecting themselves to other people, organizations, and entities within their communities. Elijah demonstrated his social web map based on being a youth organizer and how that connects him with his community board, and other environmental justice organizations. Others followed his lead. One young woman creating her map based on her experience as a documentarian on environmental issues.
“We want people to have some pride in their community, some pride from where they’re from. That’s why we hold the symposium because we want people to know that there are people in their community that do care for where they live and want to make a change,” said Rodriguez, 19.
During the Arts and Crafts workshop, participants picked up their paint brushes, stroking their canvases to create scenes of green space in their neighborhoods.
Later in the afternoon, about 50 attendees participated in a Resiliency Roundtable, diving deeper into environmental issues their communities face – and looking for solutions.
The table on Air Quality, Sanitation, and Transportation highlighted the psychological factors behind littering and illegal dumping, and the need for a collective behavioral change of how the environment is treated. The youth discussed how fostering care for the environment requires a shift in the negative perception of the Bronx regarding sanitation, which comes through community outreach.
Another group discussed the importance of creating green spaces such as gardens and green roofs.
Additionally, youth organizers from Nos Quedemos and other groups facilitated breakout sessions in classrooms, covering topics on Arts and Craft, Transportation in the Bronx, Data Gathering and Mapping, Housing and Community Development, Mott Haven/Port Morris WaterFront Plan, Advocacy Workshop and others.
The event closed with a performance in the darkened auditorium by Ambar Caldwell and Band, a neo-Soul group, and a call to action for youth to organize and get involved in climate justice.
“You’re being open to giving back to your community in a different way and in a sense,” said Ly Santiago, explaining the importance of this event, “it’s just a bunch of youth coming together, doing something productive and it teaches them how to keep doing this work in the future.”
About Post Author
