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Inclusion of Frontline Communities in the Sunrise Movement Senior Honors Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the School of Arts

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Inclusion of Frontline Communities in the Sunrise Movement Senior Honors Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the School of Arts Inclusion of Frontline Communities in the Sunrise Movement Senior Honors Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Undergraduate Program in Environmental Studies Professor Brian Donahue, Advisor In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts by Phoebe Dolan April 2020 Copyright by Phoebe Dolan Committee Members Professor Brian Donahue Professor Sabine Von Mering Professor Gowri ViJayakumar Abstract Environmental activism and climate activism have a long history in the United States. Historically the membership of the environmental movement was white, old, educated and mostly male. This history led to the exclusion of communities of color, low income communities and indigenous communities from the mainstream climate movement. The Sunrise Movement is a youth climate movement, founded in 2017, fighting for the futures of young people in the face of the climate crisis. Sunrise has the unique angle of representing youth as a frontline to the future of the climate crisis, but as a movement how are they uplifting other frontline communities such as people of color, low income communities, island populations and beyond? How does the Sunrise Movement uplift and center frontline communities in their organizations, what are their tactics, where are they challenged and how are they succeeding? I interviewed 11 current leaders within the Sunrise movement and asked them if Sunrise succeeded at uplifting and centering frontline communities and where they were challenged. Common themes came up for many participants, Sunrise embraces storytelling as a form of narrative around climate justice, but they tend to tokenize frontline voices. Urgency is necessary for the Sunrise Movement to act on the climate crisis, but Sunrise must curb their speed in order to focus on inclusion as a movement goal. Sunrise knows they cannot win a Green New Deal or mitigate climate change alone, they need to stand with frontline-led movements to accomplish this type of change. Sunrise was started by college educated and maJority white young people, will they succeed in changing and shaping their climate movement towards climate justice? 2 Table of Contents Title Page........................................................................................................................................1 Abstract...........................................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements.........................................................................................................................4 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................5 Chapter 1: Environmentalism to Climate Justice............................................................................7 The Environmental Teach In...............................................................................................7 Environmental Movements and Environmental Justice ...................................................11 The Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing ............................................................27 Chapter 2: The Sunrise Movement and Guiding Frameworks......................................................36 The Story of Sunrise..........................................................................................................36 Organizational structures and framework .........................................................................43 Sunrise Movement Principles............................................................................................48 Anti-oppression in the Sunrise movement.........................................................................57 Chapter 3: Research Methods and Results and Analysis..............................................................60 Methods.............................................................................................................................60 Demographic Data Quantitative Findings.............................................................63 Challenges within the process and methods..........................................................65 Results and Analysis..........................................................................................................67 Defining the Frontline ...........................................................................................67 Storytelling: Uplifting Frontline Narratives, Tokenizing Oppressed Voices........72 Urgency and Intentionality: Move quickly, Without repeating the status quo......77 Planning for Inclusion, Planning for Massive Action............................................82 Chapter 4: Recommendations........................................................................................................90 Green New Deal for Rural America..................................................................................90 Partnerships and Sister Movements...................................................................................92 Invest in Organizers of Color and End Tokenism.............................................................95 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................100 Appendices..................................................................................................................................103 Appendix i: Request for an Interview.............................................................................103 Appendix ii: Interview Guide..........................................................................................104 Appendix iii: Informed Consent form.............................................................................105 Bibliography................................................................................................................................107 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Brian Donahue for being my guide and sounding board throughout my research. I could not have asked for a more insightful and brilliant advisor, I am honored to have had your advice throughout my thesis process. To my readers, Professor Sabine von Mering and Professor Gowri ViJayakumar, I deeply appreciate the guidance and insight given throughout this past year and through the last few steps of my thesis. Finally Ann Ward, thank you for being a fellow Sunrise Movement researcher and friend, willing to share you years of experience and knowledge about interviewing and engaging with activists. I could not have completed my primary research without asking you questions first. And thank you to all of the Sunrise Movement leaders who participated in my research, sharing their stories and thoughts with me and connecting me with their friends and peers. I am deeply grateful. 4 Introduction "I've never felt so called to something in my life."1 ~ Neveah, 23, Sunrise Movement hub coordinator Now, more than ever, young people are rising up around the world to demand action against climate change. Young people in the United States are standing up and demanding change because of their concern for their future as humans on the planet. Challenging the systems in the world through collective action is not new, and the climate justice movement is gaining popularity among young people from all backgrounds in the United States. The youth climate movement comes from college campuses, public schools, community centers, libraries and in virtual space along with other types of community spaces. Climate movements are broad and they encompass many different angles of activism. Climate leaders, young and old, work to take charge of systems that do not serve them and move towards ones that do. Climate activism today, as in the past twenty years, comes from the necessity to fight for the future of the most vulnerable people. Climate justice deepens the concern for communities on the frontline of the climate crisis such as communities of color, low income communities and indigenous communities. Climate justice recognizes that the groups of people who created human induced climate change feel the smallest effects, while the most vulnerable communities, least responsible, on the frontline, are experiencing the worst. In 2017, A group of college students, angry at Donald Trump’s election, fearing for the future of the planet with an unchecked climate crisis, came together out of the college fossil fuel divestment movement and formed the Sunrise Movement.2 The Sunrise Movement responded to 1 Neveah, Personal Interview, interview by Phoebe Dolan, Voice Recording, February 5, 2020. 2 Witt, Emily, “The Optimistic Activists for a Green New Deal: Inside the Youth-Led Singing Sunrise Movement | The New Yorker,” December 23, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-optimistic-activists-for-a- green-new-deal-inside-the-youth-led-singing-sunrise-movement. 5 the fear for the future of the planet and humanity by proposing solutions that were the size of the problem and building people power to fight back. The Sunrise Movement was built by predominately white, middle and upper middle class, college educated young people in the United States. The climate movement and environmental movement in the United States have a history of whiteness and exclusive behavior towards people living on the frontline of the environmental
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