On Advancing The Climate Justice Movement and Leading Us Into a Renewable Revolution
By Elson Bankoff
Introduction
Involvement in climate advocacy exists through education, oftentimes leaving marginalized groups–– those with the strongest narratives–– excluded from the movement. This harms the movement greatly. There is a privilege in the involvement in this movement which exists not only socioeconomically, but as the privilege of curiosity, of energy, and of capacity to imagine a better world. We the youth are living in the heat of the moment but also the climax of our educational experience. We are learning to different and unequal degrees and in dire need of large-scale education reform that requires uprooting the American obsession with productivity. The typical climate justice advocate might start as a STEM kid, concerned with sustainable tech and infrastructure. Then perhaps they take interest in government, conservation, or economic justice. Regardless, passionate and persistent involvement in climate advocacy is either a result of education through news, school, or lived experience. Not everyone has this, including elected officials (though some do and choose to ignore it) so the movement remains confined within a bubble of the educated.
To combat this, the climate movement must follow a model similar to mutual aid. We are responsible for one another, and that makes us strong. By recognizing the privilege of education and connecting it to other privileges like shelter, food, and clothes, we get something called Mutual Education. We must build each other up and form coalitions to share, present, and perform educational material. We must host events, educational sessions, and opportunities for direct action. Proactive Media takes written or visual information and brings it off a screen or paper and into the area it pertains to. Providing channels to act directly after learning, writing, and creating is necessary because we know that information inspires.
Freedom of speech must extend beyond neutrality. The youth, marginalized voices, and those experiencing injustices of all kinds must be given platforms to speak and spaces to listen. We best accomplish this through art, storytelling, prose, accessible information, policy demands, and the unconventional means by which this is accomplished. This manifesto (such a dramatic term that I loveee) outlines a new form of activism that obliterates climate justice neutrality. It does so by establishing how urgent action steps and art are vital to training the new generation to lead with empathy and educated opinions. It will also stress the importance of issues that require urgent resolutions and democratize the world beyond performative social media activism.
We must mobilize, not only as numbers but as voices. Chants cannot be redundant, and information cannot be given only to the wealthy or through nauseating digital abundance. Proactive Media and Mutual Education will not only lead us into a Renewable Revolution but directly combat the oppressive speed at which the world controls us. This will, in the most liberating way, empower us (the youth), instill empathy within us, and prepare us to lead the world we create.
A Renewable Revolution
In this piece, the mention of “environment” or “climate” is always in the context of climate action and justice. We are long overdue for a Renewable Revolution that will solve many of the human health, exploitation, economic, and environmental problems occurring right now.
The Renewable Revolution has been and is being stunted by dark money, normal money, lack of political will, and fossil fuel reliance. And after we chant enough, elect enough, and demand enough, these prohibiting factors will disintegrate, and only then will the Renewable Revolution begin.
When it happens, we need to take into account every humanitarian, economic, and social consequence that comes with energy transitions. But before this revolution happens, we have to unravel apathy, inform populations, and inspire change. The climate crisis does not refer to environmentalism and its privileged connotations, but rather the overdue transformation of the global energy economy, infrastructure, institutions, and system of exploitation. It affects everyone, and I see this as a powerful opportunity for reparations to be made to this new leading generation. But we have to start now and we have to do it through Proactive Media.
Right now, about half of the world is obsessed with maintaining the past, while the other half is fighting desperately to overturn it and build something new. The Renewable Revolution is sustainable–– it resolves problems just as rapidly as it empowers populations. It is the ultimate savior to the crisis. The Renewable Revolution is very exciting!
It’s easy to blame things like past energy revolutions (the Industrial Revolution) for the issues we are facing now. We can scream at dead oil tycoons and critique the conditions they subjugated their employees to. But right now, in the 21st century, the issue is not invention, it is maintenance. At a certain point in history, fossil fuels were the answer. A quick, cheap, and revolutionary answer. But they have destroyed our Earth, and we must move on to the alternative: a clear and beautiful renewable world that will provide millions of jobs and sustain us for as long as humanity prospers.
The Renewable Revolution is new energy, new infrastructure, and a new world. But this revolution has not happened due to corporate greed, political lobbying, propaganda, and stigmatization. The Renewable Revolution has hardly been referred to as such because money has fought to villainize it in affiliation with progressive politicians, teenagers, and lifestyle choices. Through pushing to incentivize a better world, we become enemies of innovation. But who truly strives for innovation? Surely not the idiot who, as cars enter the market, bribes world leaders to maintain the horse-drawn carriage.
The Climate Justice Movement is fighting for the obvious: We are fighting for political incentive to crush the oppressive efforts that halt The Renewable Revolution. One would think that something as infinite as sustainable energy and sustainable jobs would be wanted without opposition. But the opposition exists, and it is powerful, dominating, and requires an army of millions to take down. That is what the Climate Justice Movement is. And to defeat the opposition and achieve a Renewable Revolution, we must outnumber the giants over years and amass the power they now hold over us. This is done through education and will not only increase the number of passionate and empathetic activists but prepare us to lead and thrive in a Renewable Revolution.
Mutual Education
Teaching is inspiring. Simple as that. When people learn things that resonate with them, they are inclined to act in some capacity. The youth possess a degree of compassion and creative energy that is worlds higher than our adult counterparts. This compassion, enthusiasm, and infinite flow of ideas must be encouraged and harnessed by older youth or intuitive and caring educators.
Educators in society must be treated with the respect and compensation they deserve. Their role in our society is as important to invest in, uplift, and train as that of a doctor, lawyer, or elected official. Our educators have the same role in the future that our youth or our policymakers do.
Formal American education systems, as they exist now, are unequal and inadequate. The disproportionate pattern is similar to climate devastation in that education resources are scarce in the lower-income areas, and abundant in wealthy areas. While living in an information revolution, we are undergoing an education crisis.
When planning for the March 25 climate strike in Washington, D.C. we considered hosting a disruptive mutual aid action to stress the importance of welfare in the context of the climate emergency. Mutual aid is exactly what its name suggests: people taking responsibility and caring for one another to change political conditions. This exists in the form of food, clothing, and other commodities largely. We didn’t end up organizing a mutual aid element that time around, but it opened a floodgate of ideas.
Something very unique to climate and environmental activism is that, unlike many humanitarian issues, the bulk of activists do not exist because of their lived experiences, but rather their education. It would be strange and out of place if white people, wealthy people, or scientists led a social justice movement like Black Lives Matter. It would be strange if rich people led labor movements. So, it should strike us as equally strange that the environmental justice movement is led largely by those who face less of the damage. The climate movement must focus our attention on those facing the damage, not only as numbers and rhetoric to use against the opposition, but as powerful contributors to our own cause.
The education crisis and the climate crisis must be treated as the same problem which both have the potential to resolve one another. However, one crisis, the climate one, is under a very unforgiving time clock that does not allocate time for complete education reform. We do, however, have time to focus on education within the movement.
The Youth
Right now, the youth are at the forefront of the environmental justice movement. We are in the streets, leading NGOs and international networks, and standing outside marble buildings begging elected leaders to act out our ambitious agendas. Through this, we exploit our energy, we work long hours with few results, individual recognition, or fulfillment. We lose the slowness of growing up and we develop an understanding of ourselves as little more than one of the millions yelling for a better world. We have entered a dominant and powerful workforce with no promotions or praise. But of course, the movement offers many opportunities for collective wisdom, community, and purpose. We love that, and that’s why we stay.
We are living in an information revolution. That, coupled with the commercial and exploitative speed of the world, leaves today’s youth as products and consumers. Almost unknowingly, we become overwhelmed, depressed, anxious, attention deficient because of the sheer abundance, the sheer quantity of “stuff.” Overwhelming abundance overlaps with information in the form of social media which, when used improperly, cannot directly enact change. The failures of social media emphacize the need for Proactive Media.
Social Media: A Means not an End
To understand Proactive Media in the context of climate, we must understand Social Media. It is impossible not to be hypocritical when forming any opinion of social media. It is culture. To abstain from it would to be blind to how deeply it has integrated itself into our society. But you cannot create a social media account and expect it to make a change in the climate movement. You cannot do it. The following proves why:
Social Media is an Echo Chamber.
Platforms function based on algorithms that bind you to specific content based on the content you engage with. The “discourse” you engage in and the content you create or repost remains within the orbit of like-minded people. This doesn’t spark change.
Social Media is a Black Hole.
Every time you say something, repost something, or release content, it begins and ends on a screen. We spend time scrolling, informing ourselves only to become inspired for a single moment and leave drained and buzzed with that all too familiar feeling of phone burnout. It sucks our energy and it sucks our time. These two things, energy and time, are the fuels of powerful movements. It is clear to everyone that the contagious enthusiasm running through the veins of our digital world sparks our own passion towards a cause. The downside in this, is that the energy from that inspiration or networking is spent merely within the realm of social media. We become less inclined to protest on the street when we can protest in our home. But is it protest?
Social Media is a Man Screaming Into a Void.
Occasionally, someone may hear the man’s words very faintly, if at all. This person might write about the screaming itself, not the actual words screamed. The words are left to ricochet around the vast walls of the void. They rarely leave.
Social Media is a Facade of Change.
Because social media platforms are designed to provide instant gratification, “hits” of motivation or validation, we are satisfied by a repost or a petition signing, telling like-minded people what we think, or debating with someone of a different ideology. We think this is a role we can play in the all too difficult fight for change. We think these platforms democratize our world by giving us a chance to speak on issues, which they do, but more than anything, these platforms leave us tired and fragile and longing for more while simultaneously burnt out. These platforms and the way we engage with them invented the term “performative” because social media is exactly that: a performance.
Social Media thrives on the Concept of the “Mainstream.”
This disregards powerful narratives and stories and uplifts celebrity culture. There has been a rise in celebrity because of social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Activists or political creators go viral and are exposed to success while the rest of the generation remains unseen, overworks themselves, and oftentimes becomes egotistical to achieve the fame that others have. When an activist becomes a celebrity this contradicts collective action because it ties a face, an individual, to a movement. It is incredible though, how activists can achieve celebrity. That is very noteworthy and empowering so long as we do not forget what we’re fighting for or allow ourselves to be monetized or targeted.
Social Media Platforms are Multi-Billion Dollar Businesses
They thrive in an environment that promotes a rapid, attention hopping culture where nothing trends for more than a week. Therefore, social media and counter-culture cannot coexist. There are ample arguments to be made that social media democratizes social justice actions and political expression; however, because of the inherent nature of their functionality, stream of revenue, and ownership, true resistance is impossible without benefitting those in power. Fighting for change through brief, sharable, and simplified messages creates a neat and diluted movement. Counterculture by definition seeks to overthrow power in favor of collective will to achieve fairness and justice. Whether or not we are exploiting these platforms for social causes, when billionaires double their fortunes every week from our “anti-capitalist” endeavors, we are not countering power, but enabling it.
Perhaps the nuance of Social Media lies in the fact that communication, being the defining human trait that it is, is greatly enabled through social networks. Rapid communication can mobilize and create communities centered around social causes. Regarding the fight for economic, social, and environmental justice, social media should function as an amplifier of voices, a flier, and community-building tool. If used this way, it is incredibly empowering. If a hashtag can hinder the career of a rapist in real time, or a viral video of police brutality can spark global protests, then we as activists are using the platform correctly. Where we fail, are those intermediate areas where digital fatigue and pressure to always be speaking on everything overwhelm us and suck our energy into a void. We must use the digital world to bring presence and attention into the real one. Social media is to be utilized when we wish to be social and interpersonal.
Mainstream Media: The Harm in Neutrality
To understand Proactive media, we must understand Mainstream Media. The Mainstream Media has been largely responsible for the apathy surrounding the climate crisis. For years, The Mainstream Media was silent, as scientists worked independently to uncover truths about climate change. Mainstream Media hardly promotes a Renewable Revolution, and oftentimes, like national and subnational leaders, is bribed by lobbying money into remaining complicit. As the timeline gets narrower and narrower, a simple broadcasts or summaries is not enough. I am not arguing that mainstream newsrooms must convert to become dissident, but rather that the climate justice movement cannot rely on these outlets and is in need of a new form of media.
Mainstream Media has the goal to inform and the goal to keep up. Direct action cannot result from this. Mainstream Media has the power to inspire but also the power to deceive, and the foundation it has built is effective in growing a gradual climate consciousness. But this takes years. And we don’t have years.
Mainstream Media does not provide direct outlets to act. It is directly responsible for the information abundance that floods Social Media Platforms. Mainstream Media is a broadcast, and it is no longer a leisurely read on a Sunday morning or the nighttime news, but a spam of nonstop input that makes us feel incapable of solving issues.
Mainstream Media does highlight positive actions, but is deeply concerned with the negative and tends to frame conflict as inevitable and only engages us as a spectator, not an actor or a mobilizer.
Proactive Media
We need to find a balance of media that educates us mutually (through bringing us together), redirects the collective passion from the Social Media void to real life, and amplifies narratives beyond a screen, while also taking direct action. If education and access to information is what defines involvement in the climate justice movement, it must be used very intentionally within the movement to directly leverage change. Here is how we accomplish this:
Actions
Since information and education inspire action, we need to provide that action as a direct plan that follows the information. For example, if you read an article that makes you angry but equivalently driven to act to resolve it, what do you do? Do you act? In the case of Social Media, you scroll to the next piece of information and slowly become overwhelmed, desensitized and unmotivated. Because of the abundance, you are reminded that you are a human and these issues are colossal. In the case of Mainstream Media, the news will flash it as a report, not an analysis and then move on. But Proactive Media offers something new: direct opportunities for action tied into information and reports. Imagine a world where there aren’t simply IPCC reports, but after each clause, a demand. Imagine a world where after each local broadcast, there are four events to attend to address the issue. This new form of media allows mobilization efforts to be directly ingrained into media. We must proactively seek resolutions as we define problems. In doing this, we take the energy and drive that exists after enlightening our minds, and convert it to direct action. There is no time to wait around and let the inspiration strike like a stimulant, ignore it, and consume again. We have to use Proactive Media to define resolutions locally and provide forums and spaces to act.
Stories
Every social and economic movement has defining stories. Whether they are literature, cinema, poetry, or oral legends, civilization runs on narratives. Even moments of disaster had generation-defining texts that informed populations then and defined the event long into the present day. Literature and movies relevant to the Renewable Revolution are usually made distinct from other genres. I have found that the most effective stories are integrated with other genres. This breaks us out of the same echo chamber. People who don’t care about climate injustice and a Renewable Revolution will not pick up a book about it. Just as they won’t follow an account about it. Literature’s role is to subtly integrate aspects of this crisis into everything without instilling doom or gloom. Literature can accomplish this without a political agenda, it does not need to pause its story and abruptly demand a Renewable Revolution. But it must lead readers to come to that conclusion themselves. Like Mainstream and Social Media, it must be everywhere. Unlike Mainstream and Social Media, it must proactively fight the issue and harness energy.
Public Visuals
Another way Proactive Media escapes the information echo chamber is through public visuals. Wheat pasting, large art installations, and artistically deliberate protests are all examples of this. When information is enlarged and stunning, it is hard to ignore. It, like other Proactive Media must become integrated into our streets, our buildings, and brand our society with demands and an agenda that will lead us into a Renewable Revolution.
Manifestos
Deliberate calls to action have the ability to transform thinking and exist as sources of inspiration and hope. As we emerge into a Renewable Revolution and fight for it to begin, we must produce as many of these as possible. Manifestos are exactly what they sound like, they are manifestations of what can only happen if other people begin to agree. They have the power to proactively define an idea, an ideology, and a mission. That is what I am doing now!
Performances
When words are left on a page, they require literacy and they are often put down in the quick world we reside in. Everything should be theatrical, everyone should see their words embodied by human life. We must perform, we must cheer, and we must enliven letters into speech, dance, and song.
These are only a few examples on how to transform media into proactive mobilization, cultural dominance, and political power.
Conclusion and Ecosystemic
In the spirit of Proactive Media, I do not wish to only inform the reader of this new direction for climate advocacy, but also propose a direct way to accomplish it. Proactive Media is a new genre of media that cannot be accomplished through Social Media or Mainstream Media, at least not until it is tested on and created in a new setting. I propose this new setting to be a network of youth working together to create their own newsroom. A magazine with action chapters who use ideas and work in harmony to find stories, tell stories, and define the movement in our own words. Ecosystemic is something that is doing that, and something I believe can create this form of Proactive Media and Mutual Education. We will have chapters and mobilize our communities not just to report, but to create, to share, and to act. Proactive Media leads to Mutual Education through its ability to bring people together in physical and digital spaces to share ideas and create solutions. This process is educational and inspirational.
Obviously, the education system needs a lot of reform, but right now, I think that students informing and inspiring students will leverage insurmountable momentum. We can do this through circulating the publication around as many high schools as possible, holding read alouds and information sessions, converting written work into public displays (wheatpasting and live performance), raising money (potentially through ad revenue) to create libraries of environmental literature, and organizing actions that correspond with the information we publish.
It is very difficult to turn the means by which we share our news, like Mainstream Media, into Proactive Media without losing the interest of half the American population (because it would appear as propaganda). That is why I phrase this plan in the context of reforming the movement, not the media. It is easier to create Proactive Media from social media because of the outlets of communication and ease at which one can communicate. But the grandiosity, the sheer quality and richness of Proactive Media cannot be left in the confines of the digital void. Proactive Media can only be created and strengthened from the movement. It must spark from passion and with every creation, with every story, with every painting, embody all the movement aims to accomplish.
We must act with care and with urgency and create robust community, foster empathy, and help each other to help save our Earth. It is time to be Mutual and Proactive.
Hum a tune and let it catch on, light a candle and let its sweet aroma diffuse and it burns, let the potential become kinetic. Prepare for the Renewable Revolution, but realize that proactively, mutualistically, we are the Renewable Revolution.
About Author
