As I nervously enter the room with my Earth Club, our state representative shifts her head towards our direction.
Attending the Youth Climate Justice Summit in 2019 was the first time I ever lobbied or even talked to a legislator. Yet after getting a warm welcome from her, I felt comfortable and knew why I was there: to advocate for bills surrounding environmental justice and share my own climate story as a first-generation Algerian/Kabyle-American youth.
The Youth Climate Justice Summit ignited my passion for environmental justice advocacy and reinforced the power I have with my identity. As a member of Youth Environmental Activists (YEA!), I have been on the other side of organizing this year, having the opportunity to organize this upcoming Youth Climate Justice Summit on February 25-26th.
There will be a multitude of workshops for participants to experience, from topics such as Disability & Justice to Climate Justice in the Middle East and North Africa, which I will be hosting with my friend Layan Nazzal. As a participant in the past years, the workshops expanded my scope of what environmental justice means. Most of these workshops being youth-led allow youth participants to see themselves in the same place of action and advocacy, which is truly inspiring.
Also, we are planning on hosting a Policy Panel during the summit, with a multitude of State Representatives, State Senators, and the EPA. Creating a space where participants can understand environmental justice policy, ask questions directly to the speakers, and even have an opportunity to have conversations with them in small groups is an amazing opportunity. It allows youth to feel connected with people who may seem far from their reach and share their own climate stories and experiences with their representatives.
I remember always being intimidated by legislators before having the opportunity to speak with them one-on-one. After doing it, I realized how normal they were as a constituent, your story, your voice mattered. It is such an empowering experience and even allows participants from a diverse amount of identities to see themselves in the same position in the future, no matter what role they play.
Ultimately the Youth Climate Justice Summit played a critical role in building the youth climate activist role I see myself as today.
It defined what environmental justice means and drove me to connect my own experiences and identity to it. As a youth with intersecting identities, the Youth Climate Justice Summit also allowed me to find a community of youth from all across Minnesota and even the nation that I still have stayed in contact with today. The participants, workshop coordinators, Youth Environmental Activists, and Climate Generation build the experience to be unforgettable.
Iman Deriche is a Youth Environmental Activist and Earth Club leader at Irondale High School. She is passionate about the intersections of environmental justice, especially with her identity as a North African.