December 18, 2019
Page 9
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photo by a bby s nethen /l incoln h igh s chool senior
Students from Portland area schools demand action on climate change during a Dec. 6 march in downtown Portland.
Confronting the Impacts of Climate Change
If we don’t act
now, then when?
by a bby
s nethen
Portland had a major break-
through in addressing climate
change on Friday, Dec. 6 when
student activists and local commu-
nity members held a climate strike
in downtown Portland to focus on
frontline communities who are
most in danger. Those hit first and
worst by climate change, not just in
Portland but all over the world, are
sharing stories of how their homes
could soon face total eradication.
Beautiful and powerful speech-
es were given during the Portland
event thanks to the hundreds of
students from Roosevelt, Lincoln
and other schools that filled the
streets. Kaiya Young, a senior at
Lincoln High School, presented
a discourse on how to be an ally
to the frontline communities. She
expressed the importance of rec-
ognizing your privilege as an ally
who doesn’t face the direct im-
pact of climate change. Yes, we
will all at some point suffer from
the devastating effects of climate
change but frontline communities,
like Pacific Islanders and indige-
nous groups, have been affected
long before we declared this war
against climate change.
Recognizing your privilege and
being cognizant that feeling guilty
of your privilege is a privilege in
itself, is the first step to being an
ally. The importance of uniting
with our frontline communities
was one of the main topics at the
rally .Most feel that talking about
our race, religion, gender or privi-
lege will only divide us more, but
the fact is that we are already di-
vided. The scantiness of this top-
ic does not solve this issue. The
moment we come together, as al-
lies and frontline communities, as
one society, as one movement, is
the moment we can make a dif-
ference.“We must listen to under-
stand” said Kaiya, one of the stu-
dents who spoke at the event.
I had the opportunity to go to a
middle school before the strike and
present a talk on how to be an ally
and how to make a change. The
last thing I said to the students was,
“This is your future. You control
the outcome. The second you be-
come optimistic about the future is
when you can change the world.”
Almost all of the students par-
ticipating in the Portland rally and
call for action wanted to make their
presence known. This will not be
the last time you hear from them
nor will this be the last climate
strike in Portland. There is power
in numbers. Join the movement to
save our Earth. Join the movement
that will save my future. Ignorance
is bliss but we no longer have time
to blissfully turn the other cheek
and ignore the Earth’s cries for
help. They say it is impossible to
change what’s to come, but with
unity comes a possible future.
Abby Snethen is a senior at Lin-
coln High School.
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