Overview
In December, I launched a fundraiser (I’m working to raise $20K), and over the next few weeks, I will explore a few of the projects I am raising money for and why.
When people often ask me what I do with my life and time, and I tell them I’m an organizer, they usually have no clue what that means. No, I don’t organize closets (yes, ppl have asked). And yeah it’s activism, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what movement building is. (You build teams and organizations and navigate conflict and get good at jail support and you take risks together and sleep on couches in Airbnb’s for elections or better, church pews for actions it’s good stuff.)
Because of this, I’ve been spinning on the question of, how in the hell do we, especially given the worsening crises we face as humanity (caused by capitalism, imperialism, white supremacy, etc.), get people to wake the fuck up and stop being so complicit in one's own exploitation, oppression, and demise? And get more of the masses of people organized? The questions.
Also, organizing has been life-changing for me. The sense of power, agency, joy, freedom, and creativity I’ve felt from organizing goes unmatched. Movement has been my muse. I deeply believe that the planet would be a more healed place if more people tapped into their inner source of power and felt true agency over their lives. Also, in a time where people are so isolated and disconnected, there is something deeply connecting and spiritual to be found in movement.
Finally, it’s also in my self-interest. In my role, I have a mandate to help grow the movement. What better way to do that than to show the world what it means to be in movement?
One other thing. There’s an amazing book. The Romance of American Communism (if you haven’t read I highly recommend!!), that really captures the essence and spirit of what it means to be in movement. The love, the joy, the heartbreak, the highs, the lows, of organizing. I hope to do, someday, through film, what that book did for me.
So I will drop the log line and a few other blurbs about the film below. And donate or share with ppl you know who might be interested in supporting 💛
Logling & Story Synopsis
Logline: In between navigating their twenties as young people under Trump’s America, at the heart of the current youth climate movement lie the untold stories of Black and Latine organizers working to push our government to act with the scale and urgency with which the climate crisis demands. This project aspires to tell the stories of these young people. What motivates them, how does climate change affect the people they love and the places they call home, what are they up against, and what’s at stake, if they don’t win?
Story Synopsis: Society faces an existential crisis around climate change. We must either work to address climate change at the scale and urgency it requires, or we face extinction as a species. With Donald Trump set to be our next president, the task feels even more impossible.
In the U.S., what is needed is a mass movement of people, across race & class, organizing to push the government to act on climate. While historically, the environmental movement has often been branded as white, it is clear that the communities hardest hit by climate crises and disasters.
At the heart of this film is a story about young people fighting for a world where they take care of their families, fall in love, spend time with friends and fight for a world not at the brink of collapse.
The stakes are high, and I want viewers to be brought into what’s at stake if we all don’t lean in and take action towards pushing the government to stop climate change. Though the stakes are high, in this piece I want to highlight themes of joy, resistance and power. That young people can come together and demand our government do big and bold things.
Toni Cade Bambara says, “The role of the artists is to make the revolution irresistible.” I hope this project provides a peak into the lives of young people sacrificing so much for their homes and communities and makes organizing and movement so irresistible that every person experiencing these young people’s stories can’t wait to step off the sidelines and join the movement to stop the climate crisis.
Donate here to bring this doc film to life :)
We also have a fiscal sponsor, SIMA studios! So if you want to donate more formally, and get tax exemption, visit our page here.