North America Defend The Defenders - Press Release
Youth Activists Fight For Indigenous Communities and Against Environmental Racism in Digital Campaign
Contact: contact@pollutersout.org & fffdigitalpress@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fridays for Future Digital, Polluters Out, and Extinction Rebellion are launching a campaign to fight against the fossil fuel industry’s infraction on indigenous lands, showcasing how their interests are harming and oppressing indigenous communities. This is part of their massive 8-week digital campaign Defend the Defenders campaign, which focuses on defending environmental defenders and indigenous people.
Toolkit with graphics and background on our actions can be found here.
Pictures and other assets for stories: bit.ly/dtdassets.
Fridays For Future Digital, part of the global Fridays for Future movement, and Polluters Out are starting a massive digital campaign in Canada, the USA, and the Caribbean as part of its Defend the Defenders Campaign. The activists are working alongside indigenous communities and organizations as well as environmental defenders to highlight their struggles and uplift their voices.
While the weekend focused on the celebration of independence in the United States, the activists said, it is important to recognize that not everyone is free. With the continued building of pipelines across North America, indigenous peoples are being pushed off their land and stripped of their rights. This environmental racism is a crisis that affects far too many, the activists say.
“Environmental racism is all around us. It's so normalized many people don't see it. When I drive south of the wealthy neighborhoods in my community into the neighborhoods with BIPOC I begin to see the factories and the pollution. These aren't in the upper class, wealthy and white communities they are stashed in low income communities of color because polluters know they can get away with harming them. Where are your factories and smokestacks? Have you even seen them? You can take the same drive I do practically anywhere in this country because it is all the same. Environmental racism is everywhere,” says Claire Hedberg, an indigenous youth climate activist.
Environmental racism continues through many projects that harm specifically the indigenous communities. The Keystone pipeline, for example, runs throughout the USA, threatening the indigenous Dene and Creek Nations, and greatly increases the profits of massive fossil fuel companies. The normalized racism is especially occurring through the CGL project, where the Wet'suwet'en community in Canada are taken off their land.
“Indigenous peoples in so called Canada have always defended and protected their sacred lands and all lands. It is our culture and who we are as people. When the government acknowledges that the goal was to destroy our culture, that also means destroying us as people and the lands we protect,” said Sophia Sidarous, an indigenous Metepenagiag activist from Canada.
“Therefore, if you see the lands we protect getting destroyed- you as well need to see “Canada” destroying us with it.”
Youth activists are pushing for change through many digital actions. These include a video storm to #ShutdownKeystone, where people shout “No KXL” out of their window and themselves shouting it. All the videos will be compiled into a huge video collage showcasing the collective power of youth around the world. There will also be huge Tweetstorms and petition storms to affect change more directly. In the Carribean, activists are pushing the Escazú agreement, which would ensure stakeholder engagement for planned projects and protect the rights of environmental defenders. Each day will focus on a different environmental injustice around the region, from environmental racism to the water crisis, to pipelines.
Polluters Out: website / instagram / twitter
Fridays For Future Digital: instagram / twitter / facebook
