NYC Climate Week Actions & Commitment to Racial Justice

MANDATE

We are kicking off climate week with a march on Sunday, September 20th @ 1pm, gathering at “Columbus Circle.” We are aiming to make clear the intersection between climate justice and racial justice. With an emphasis on racial justice, we seek to set a tone for the week. 

Building movements for racial, economic, and climate justice in NYC requires using every tool we have available – be that voting, completing the census, holding elected officials accountable, and mobilizing mass actions.

We cannot achieve climate justice without racial justice. 

DEMANDS

1. NYC must act on Resolution 864 declaring a climate emergency.  It must immediately halt any investment in fossil fuels, Canadian hydropower, and related infrastructure. NYC must meet a zero-carbon emissions economy by 2030.  We demand a powerful public process and structure for implementation led by and prioritizing the voices and needs of frontline communities, Black, Brown, Indigenous Peoples, working people and youth. Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge is valuable and essential in order for us to heal properly and ethically. Measurable benchmarks must be established to meet the needs of the people, and what has been confirmed by science.
2. NYC Green New Deal. A fair and just transition and involvement of all communities impacted with a focus on frontline communities that are impacted first and worst by the climate crisis. The Green New Deal must move the city’s economy to full employment, generating new, living-wage jobs for those living in marginalized Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. We must enact a comprehensive Green New Deal for NYC that immediately begins to convert the city’s fossil fuel economy into a new, green economy that is environmentally sustainable, economically secure, and socially just.
3. The Red Deal. Prioritizing Indigenous liberation, the Red Deal calls for us to move beyond the US colonial state and demands “this planet be habitable for human and other-than-human relatives to live dignified lives… call(ing) for a divestment away from police, prisons, and military, and fossil fuels, and a reinvestment in common humanity for everyone and the restoration of Indigenous lands, waters, airs, and nations.”
4. Rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day and Remove All Statues of Columbus in NYC. Christopher Columbus is a symbol of genocide of Indigenous Peoples, commodification of nature, religious intolerance, gendered violence, and the founding of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Land must be returned to Native peoples and treaties must be honored. 
5. Defund and demilitarize the NYPD. The police have committed human rights violations against Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities since the institution’s creation. The fossil fuel industry, along with many other corporations, have funded the police. We also call for no new cops. The mayor’s new class of NYPD recruits is coming on board in October. If this class were canceled, the city would save at least $25 million.
6. Direct investment in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. This includes the transfer of funds from policing to community needs. Air pollution and land contamination disproportionately affect Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, causing lung and respiratory diseases (e.g. asthma), heart disease, and cancer. This has contributed to the increased effects of COVID-19 on Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.
7. Equitable Response to COVID-19. During this dual economic and health crisis, it is more important than ever that we create jobs that prioritize the needs of communities most impacted by the climate crisis. As named in the #BoldNextSteps framework signed by 140 organizations, “When our city comes out of the current health crisis we will face a moment of reckoning. We can step back and lose all we love or we can step forward and create the world we need to survive and to thrive.”

Groups initiating this effort:

Action Corps NYC, American Indian Community House, Bronx Climate Justice North, Climate Reality Project NYC/Metro Chapter, Corporate Accountability, Extinction Rebellion NYC, March for Science NYC, North Bronx Racial Justice, Peoples Climate Movement – NY, Plus1Vote, Schaghticoke First Nations, Sustaining All Life – NYC, United Confederation of Taíno People, WEAct

Week of Actions

• Racial Justice/Climate Justice Art Build
  Saturday, September 12th, J. Hood Wright Park, Washington Heights @ 1PM – 5PM
• Racial Justice/Climate Justice Art Build
  Saturday, September 19th, Prospect Park, Brooklyn @ 1PM – 5PM
• Climate Justice through Racial Justice Rally and March
  Sunday, September 20th, Columbus Circle @ 1pm
• The Intricacies and Intersections of Climate, Abolition, and Decolonization
  Webinar on Wednesday, September 23rd @ *TBD* via Zoom 

Ways to Support

• Complete this short Google Form to share how you’re going to sign-on to the day of action(s) and to share how you can support directly!
• Give a donation towards the week of actions! Our initial goal is $2,500 in order to purchase PPE items, art build supplies, and secure equipment for the day of.
• Volunteer to be a member of the safety team! We are looking for street marshals, bike marshals, street medics, Healers, de-escalators and experienced police interfacers.

COVID-19 Safety

All participants must wear face masks. Social distancing will be encouraged. We understand and encourage each individual/organization to make the best decision for safety. 

Resource – M4BL: Protocol for Public Risk/Harm Reduction While Protesting

Contact Info 

Email Randy Karr [randy0702@msn.com] in order to get in contact with the organizers regarding this week of actions.

Community Safety and Healing Team

Across Frontlines will be leading and coordinating the community safety and healing team for the 9/20 march. If you are interested in joining and/or supporting in that role please sign-in here.

We will be looking for both new and experienced: street marshals and bike marshals. Along with trained street medics and Healers who will be able to support participants before, during and after the action. 

There will be a 1 hour briefing and training that will cover march logistics, roles, responsibilities and a short intro workshop on situational awareness and protest safety. 

For any questions or inquiries please email: Kalaya’an Mendoza [kala@acrossfrontlines.org] 

Meeting Logistics

Citywide climate meetings happen bi-weekly on Mondays at 6pm

Contact Leslie Cagan to receive Zoom information: [lesliecagan@igc.org]

Racial Justice, Climate Justice working group meetings happen weekly on Thursdays at 1pm

Contact Jennifer Scarlott to receive Zoom information: [jen.scarlott@gmail.com]