Day 6: Rise

When we say #NoNewLeases, we mean we want a Gulf South that is rich and abundant with fish, birds, and fresh water, not privatized for drilling. When we call for investments in renewable energy, we need it to be justly sourced, so that the labor and practice is also sustainable.

Rise with us.
Dream with us.
Act with us.

Guest Speakers:
Miya Yoshitani // Senior Strategist of Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Stephanie Guilloud // Co-Director of Project South

Introduction by:
Colette Pichon Battle // Vision & Initiatives Partner, Taproot Earth

Tap into RISE by…
Listening to music LOUD. Put on your favorite record, track or anthem and feel the rhythms of liberation move through you.

Connect with us @taprootearth on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Transcript

0:02

Day six, Rise. When the most impacted, the most isolated, the most oppressed people are free, we're all free. Welcome to day six of Climate On Tap, Rituals of Remembrance and Restoration. Today's episode features fierce and unapologetic comrades in the work. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Miya Yoshitani, former executive director of Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), and now senior strategist there, and Stephanie Guilloud, co-director of Project South for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide. We are not only honored for them to join us today, but also for stepping into the role as inaugural board members of Taproot Earth. Miya and Steph are helping us to advance frontline community governance, from Gulf South, to California and across the globe. We can only do this when we root our work and our relationships to each other and to the Earth. When we build power together, we can reimagine what our communities can be. We can reimagine what it means to have community and public governance of our water and energy systems. We can advance solutions that are not extractive, like offshore drilling and fossil gas, but invest in solutions that are sustainable and just. We want a Gulf South that is rich and abundant with fish, and birds, and fresh water, not privatized for drilling. Join us to learn more about movement building in action. This is an invitation to listen closely and find opportunities to rise for climate justice in your community. Rise with us as we build power, community, and movement to reimagine our future. Passing the mic to Miya and Steph G. I definitely feel most grounded in the Southern Freedom Movement, and that includes generations of people that resisted slavery, that worked to abolish it, that have struggled and fought for racial justice, and against white supremacy in this region and across the country. And I think that that movement and legacy is rooted in global movements, which I also feel connected to in terms of learning the most, in my lifetime, from global movements, from the global justice movement that I've been a part of in different formations over many decades, specifically queer people in movements. My legacy, I think, or the legacy I feel most connected to in terms of queer folks, is seeing and being a queer person inside of, and fighting within racial justice, economic justice, gender justice movements that are place-based and rooted in deeper histories. And for me, that means a lot'cause we're everywhere and we have a role to play, and I think something unique and special to contribute to movements. And that means a lot to me as part of how I bring myself to movements against white supremacy and for sustainable lives. And so I'm proud to be a part of those, and to learn, and to continue learning from all movements all the time. That's where I get the most inspiration, from history, from people, from communities that have been in struggle, that have fought back, that have built. That's what I always look to. Yeah, that's amazing. I think for myself, I kind of originally maybe start with just my own family's experience coming from an immigrant experience, and also in particular, my grandparents, and my dad, and his generation, they were all in Japan during WWII, and living in Tokyo during the war, and during the bombings of Tokyo, and really just sort of barely escaped war with their lives. And, and then coming to the US during a time of, like, deep antagonism and racism towards, towards immigrants, and xenophobia, especially targeting Japanese Americans. They weren't in the US during the time of incarceration for Japanese Americans. They were there in the aftermath of that. And I think just my own family's story of resilience in light of what they survived is part of what I connect to personally, and then, for sure, that's actually some of the story that brought me to being parts of racial justice movements and civil rights, and then in particular to, as a young person being involved in really early nascent environmental justice organizing, and that intersection of racism, poverty, and pollution really spoke to, to me and my own kind of feeling of what was fair and not fair in the world, and was something that really helped me to connect to, and feel connected to, the history and legacy in particular of the of the civil rights movement in the United States, because that's the that's the foundation of the current environmental justice movement today, and kind of led my own personal trajectory in movement organizing for power. With racial justice at the core. With a connection to global movements for freedom, dignity, for justice, and for economic justice, and racial justice around the world and against white supremacy. And it kind of all starts there. Like, what's your own connection? What do you believe is not just right, but possible in the world? And then how do people organize collectively with their families, their neighbors, their communities, to fight for what they believe in? And that's what I've been lucky enough to be grounded in for my whole career. Yeah. Yeah. That's beautiful. Well, let's talk about power, how we build power and get at these intersections. I think power is, essentially for us, you know, for, for movements of people who are at the center of the biggest impacts of not having power, basically. You know, for people who are facing the worst of the climate crisis, the economic crisis, racial justice crisis. I mean, gosh, look at what's happening with our reversals in rights for our bodily autonomy. All of that, to me, goes back to how we connect to each other, connect our stories, and build shared power through collective action. And I think, I mean, that's the, you know, that's this whole story of, of movement organizing and how we've won anything, you know, labor rights, civil rights in in the history of the United States. Like we've only one through organizing, through this bigger, our story is bigger than our individual experience and our individual power, and we only get what we really want when we act together. And that's, you know, across not just neighborhoods and communities, but across worker sectors, across race, across gender, across all kinds of interests that are inherently intersectional'cause we're all real people. Power is about collective action. Awesome. Yeah, and thinking about power, if it's the ability to make decisions and the capacity to implement them, and then what is collective power? And I think it's really important that you just said that, Miya, that we have only won through organizing, and that organizing is collective action to build power. So I think for me, and in my experience, building power with people and building people's power is part of our work, is part of what we do. And I'm most proud of the building of the Southern Movement Assembly over the last decade in the South to really grow that practice of power, because that's a whole other level. And as a white Southerner in alignment with Black liberation and a multiracial movement for freedom, dignity, justice, what I have seen is when we converge people, and when we bring folks together, and we create the opportunities for people to connect to who they are, where they come from, how they relate to others, and what we can do together as basic pieces and components of the foundation to build that power. And, and the first step is just coming together. But there's so many. And like you're saying, there's the legal decisions, there's the legislative realities, there's the state itself. There's so many barriers to us exercising our power. And so much of that, the design, is keeping us in those individual stories, individual competitiveness, individualized lives. And so breaking that at the top just by coming together, and then developing a process and a, a practice of how to govern, how to make decisions, how to implement them, how to do it as a coordinated body, super difficult. But when we're able to hit it, it's super exciting. So that's, you know, in terms of building up the power of people, and exercising power, and really addressing these crises, not one by one, but with a much bigger vision, I think is, is also how we win, or how we establish the game plan to win. Yeah, absolutely. I love that. And the part about the way that powerful forces now try to convince us that we are, our only power is in how we act as an individual. To me, that's one of the, kind of most egregious, and, like, the most insidious elements of how the forces that we are fighting against keep us powerless, is by convincing us that what we can do is limited by what we can do alone. What we can do as consumers, or as just individual people on social media, or whatever— it's actually built around denying us both our history and the hope of collective action. So to me, it feels like there's something there, that it's not neutral. It's not like we just need to discover collective action as a source of our power. There's a well-organized force trying to prevent us from taking collective action. And from, at the very base level, connecting our stories to each other, understanding that we have many different experiences, cultures, languages, but we are actually unified by a shared vision for our future, And some of the things that we most desire and want for our own families is—that's a shared, that's a shared dream. And I think there's so many things in our politics, in our culture, in capitalism, the way that we are prevented from tapping into that shared action. And that's why organizing is so powerful when you're able to connect people and get people to—at that real, real basic level to see our shared story together and our shared future. Yeah. And coming together, and learning who each other is, and learning who we are, and where we come from, like you're saying, is the first step. And I hear you saying the opposition is real and we've got to name it. We need to understand what and how they move. And I think that that's a key part of rising up and thinking about how people who might not be as directly impacted by climate frontlines and are in solidarity, or in active alignment in different ways, we all have a role to play, and we have a different perspective. We have different assets, we have different resources. We have different knowledge bases. And I think some of that collectivizing power is really putting all of that to bear. And some of that is going to be about researching the opposition, understanding it from the inside, and providing and thinking through ways to navigate, maneuver, and dismantle. That feels like a way to build across communities, knowing that every community is dealing with different types of attacks, different types of exploitation and historical oppressions, but really finding ways to work together in those next few steps after coming together to really identifying that opposition, understanding it, and then building out a plan based in our own principles and that shared vision, that shared dream, that shared understanding of what we're really fighting for, and what we're really building up. You know, in this question about how you build solidarity among people who are not directly impacted, I mean, for one, we literally just need the numbers, like we need we need millions of people to be part of taking collective action to fight for the transformative solutions that we actually need, that our communities need, but that everyone needs. And so when I see the opportunity, you know, to connect people who might not be the most impacted, or are impacted by different things happening in these intersecting crises. We're not all experiencing it the same way, but to be in collective action together, it's not an act of charity. It's not an act of even allyship. It is an act of hope, conspiratorial solidarity. You know, and this morning I was talking to friends of mine in Kentucky who are really, really at that moment of crisis, and really suffering, and not even being able to account for all the loss yet in the flooding that's been happening today, and this past week. In reaching out and being able to say,"Our hearts are with you, and our resources are with you," like, we're going to share in this experience to recover and rebuild. And most importantly, we've been in the trenches taking collective action together throughout these last few decades. And so we have this powerful connection already. And the world that we're fighting for in Richmond, California is refinery fenceline communities, is the same world that Appalachian Kentuckians are fighting for. And we know that what's ahead of us is dark. There are dark times ahead of us. There are more crises, more disasters, more economic downturns, more that our communities are going to be faced with, but we're going to be facing it together. And for the people who are not living in these same neighborhoods, we're all still part of the same story. And I really believe that we want the same things. And I want to bring in Heather McGhee's book, The Sum of Us, which, you know, basically was saying we have a history of denying everyone basic freedoms, dignities, and basically the the resilient, healthy, just communities that we all want because we want to deny it to one group. We've been willing to let political and social forces, and the Conservative Right deny it to everyone. And, so we all have an interest in building our communities and this country in the way that works for everybody. When, when the most impacted, the most isolated, the most oppressed people are free, we're all free. And I think we all believe that. Yeah. And that's one of the the most rooted and repeated lines for the Southern Freedom Movement is Fannie Lou Hamer,"Nobody's free until everybody's free, and we are all free together." Some part of what you're describing is rooted also in those numbers. How do we get to those numbers? And to me, that means we can't count anyone out, and that we do all have shared dreams and visions that we can find, and that we have been sort of systematically divided from one another for all of the benefit of the opposing forces. And so thinking about the legacy of rising and in this moment, 17 years after the Gulf Coast Crisis, and Hurricane Katrina, and the hurricanes subsequently that happened in that region, in our region, it has shaped our generation, my generation, our movements, and certainly is a major origin of Taproot. And I think one of many things we can, we can take and harvest many lessons from that experience and almost two decades of work to recover, to reclaim, to regenerate movement, when we could really see, sort of, our hardest weaknesses and some of our biggest strengths, which is really the trust that's built when we're in the trenches together. And even if we're on different parts of the country or different parts of the world, if we've been in a trench around recovering from a flood, or recovering from a fire, or recovering from a hurricane, or recovering from tornadoes, and all of the climate storms and other crises that happen, whether that's police shootings, or school closures, or evictions, if we have been on those front lines in some way, shape or form, then we've built or we have the capacity to build some kind of trust. And what I know from my family's experience, from working in the South, is that disasters and crises that are that concrete, that immediate, bring out everyone and everyone begins to shovel together, to haul water out together. And there's an opportunity there to really build, and find each other, and sort of rebuild across those divisions and barriers that are really false, and that are, that happen inside of our own families. But we can resist, and we can find one another and build that type of, at first, you know, physical trench trust that then I think lends towards, and can be leveraged towards, political trust that then can move, you know, community by community, and movement by movement. And so that, I think, is a legacy of these crises that we're all experiencing, and like you say, are going to experience more often, and with greater, with greater intensity. And we're seeing that in, pretty much week-to-week at this point. And I think it feels important to remember that even though it is increasing, the crises are increasing in frequency, that that our people, that our communities have been rising up, not just the last two decades, but the last many, many, many generations. And I think that can help us also really erase these divisions and build stronger connections that start to grow those numbers way beyond that week of repair and recovery, and into the months that follow, and years that follow. So I think there's a piece there, I guess, that feels important in terms of the legacy. And of course, there's other lessons to learn from all of these crises, in terms of the opposition itself and how it moves to take up land to protect some people and not others, and all the ways that the disasters are exploited, and manipulated, and really misunderstood. And a narrative is created about disasters and the responses to deepen divisions instead of increase connections. And we have an opportunity to do that, almost on the weekly. So it's like, how can we get better and better and not be, you know, of course we're going to feel like overwhelmed by another crises, or a hurricane season, and gearing up for what it means to provide rapid response. But maybe if we saw it as another opportunity, another test, another way to improve, to sharpen our skills, to build more relationships that are going to be better in the future. We have spreadsheets instead of like, it's not written on paper anymore— then a spreadsheet, now it's shareable, now it's, you know, now it's in a database. Now we, you know, it's like we've gotten— can we say that we've gotten better at finding and really wrestling those opportunities into collective power? And I think that one of the things that we've learned over these last few decades of that being in the trenches together, rapid response, and, you know, literally helping each other dig out from the mud, and muck, or ash of disaster together is that, every hour spent on digging each other out, or every dollar that floods in, you know, in these moments of crisis, for every dollar and every hour we need to spend and gather resources, and another dollar, and another hour for building the movement. So every time we are, we have to think of every opportunity that we have to be, not just responding, but—responding, rebuilding, all of that. But we have to be creating the new, both powerful movement and movement infrastructure, not just a new house or a new bridge. We need our movements to have that infrastructure, that same attention to building power, and being able to put in place the things that really do help and support communities to be connected, to be not just prepared, but building what our communities actually need for this future. And that includes, what are the movements, what are the— what are the ways that we fight for our own decision-making power, and the power to design and create our literal neighborhoods and futures that we want, and how we want to be governed, and how we want to relate to each other, that we need real resources to build that movement infrastructure. And I think that's as much, what we've learned in the past is, like, that's as much of the process of responding to these disasters, as laying a brick, or, or putting a shovel in the ground. Absolutely. I love that. And that's building movement infrastructure and really taking the time with each other to dig into that design. And that requires this radical imagination. And that really includes everyone, and I think can be, also, an invitation to all different kinds of people that have different kinds of perspectives, that have different kinds of experiences and expertize, is what is the vision, what is the infrastructure that our communities need so that we can be building it as we repair, as we restore, you know, and that we're connecting that, the first dig of the shovel, and the buckets from hand to hand. We're also engaging, what is something better and what is systemic, like, what is a system-wide solution, and vision, and dream. And I think that's really exciting as a question to ask, and I think is part of the rising up as well. It's not just to rise up in protest, but to rise up with vision, and from imagination. And that's, you know, that's Mr. Rogers, like, that's what we got to get, like, back to our basics and fundamentals. Like, how do you imagine a world? Those are our writers, and our singers, you know, it's like dreamers and folks, and we've got to bring that energy of, like, we get to. And that to me is part of that collective power question, too. Like we get to, we get to imagine this, and then we get to build it. And if we have the ability to make the decisions, then we better have the resources to implement them. And I think that is the invitation to systems of resources, like, this is got— we gotta get at this because I think otherwise we really will be sort of stuck just surviving and protesting the exploitation, and truly our histories and our legacies. And the black radical tradition in the US South is about building. And building the infrastructure that communities need to survive, and thrive, and to make things happen. Our elders, and leaders, and veterans, you know, the calling card is"make it happen." And that's very different. And to me, that's like,"make what happen?" So we have to imagine it, and then we have to think about it together, and then we have to make a plan, and it's about blueprints, and construction, and then trying things out. Design is about testing things, like, we can, we don't have to have the perfect answer to get started with what we need. And so that also feels like something that happens in moments, and in the repercussions, and ripple effects of disasters. There's a charred ground, there's a open space, there's a place to build from. And it holds grief, and it holds some of that mourning, and recognition, and difficulty. But that's where our power and our source comes from. And so what we build on that land, on that place and space is going to be just even that much more powerful, and connected, and inspiring, and generative to other, and the next generations that follow. Yeah, I love that. And I love the fact that, I think Taproot is set up to help usher some of that into our movement capacity. I think one of the things that I'm so grateful for being in movement, being in, having an opportunity to be able to work across different regions and sectors so that we have those moments in the trenches together. We're building movement together. We also get to stand arm in arm against the very forces that tell us we're in competition with each other. When I think of moving infrastructure and how much of our organizing movement infrastructure depends on foundations, or donors, or, you know, that— that's a whole different conversation. But those resources, which are so badly needed, are so often set up in silos so that we are meant to look at each other as our competing forces. If the West Coast is over resourced, then the South doesn't get what it needs and deserves. And we're supposed to fight each other for that, as opposed to locking arms and saying, "Actually, here is what we all need and here's what we're all going to fight for together to make sure that everyone gets what they need, and when the South succeeds in building its movement power, that's good for us on the West Coast, that is what we need." We need that. And so it's in my interest to build a movement that has an ability to increase the pie together, and to share our resources. That, to me, is also what's so powerful today about having communities across different impacted, impacted regions, and neighborhoods, and communities that, like, we are in the fight for each other. We're in the fight for resources to our communities that are not in competition with each other. But when people get what they need, we all get what we need, and we're all able to be in better formation to fight what really needs the fight that really needs to be fought. You know, and I think that being able to, at the same time, not just be in the fight together, but be in that dreaming space together, also allows us to build and create a more powerful vision for our shared future. And I'm really grateful that I get to be part of something that is bringing those different pieces together. And that feels like a tangible invitation to be part of this bigger movement, is to know yourself, know your position, know where you sit, know what assets you have, what imagination and vision you're bringing to the table, and then connect to anyone, to everyone, and sort of start to build from your place, from your role, and start to intervene on some of this opposition. If you're an architect, let's think about how do we change the actual regulations for all houses to be built with climate resilience, with equitable resource-saving and environmental standards that are different? If you are a culture person, how are you invested in stories and narratives that show us building things together and not competing with one another. So just thinking about everyone's role, not to all play the same sort of piece, but actually to bring all the differences and unique contributions to this bigger movement so that we really do win and that we win together. So that's just a thought about how people can connect to what Taproot is doing and what this movement, broader movement, is doing, not just in the US but across the across the globe. Yeah, to me, it is an invitation to collective action. You know, it's an invitation to bring what you're passionate about, what brings you joy in life, and bring that to an organization in your neighborhood, in your community that can then be connected to this network of other communities that are fighting for what they want and need and tapping into that kind of collective dreaming, collective planning, collective infrastructure. I think that we need to demystify organizing so that it becomes something that is not like a hidden language, a hidden, you know, it's some sort of mysterious pathway to getting into this, like, "back room" of organizers or leaders. It really should be just as easy as joining the PTA or, you know, or a community group, a neighborhood group. You really, it's really just about how people are beginning to connect to other people who have, and kind of, create vision together. And organizations are just the vessels and vehicles for that. They're needed. And they're part of what infrastructure we need to build for each other. I think it really is overall just an invitation to resist that idea we were talking about in the beginning, that all I can do as an individual, like, just reaching out and making those connections is the first step to that. Yeah, we cannot do this alone and we don't want to. We are not alone. We're not alone. So let's gather our people. Let's find out who we are. Let's find out what we're up against, and then let's build the world we deserve. And that's sort of the basics of organizing. And anyone and everyone can do it, I think. I agree. It's hard because we're so trained not to do those steps. But once we start doing them, you know, it's more natural and it feels super exciting. And that is kind of the rise up that we're talking about, and Taproot's talking about, I think is coming together and building out that plan. And like you said earlier, it's not just right, but possible and necessary. That's right. And I think as terrifying as the future feels when we are looking at reality, like what is happening right now, and what is to come? I also do feel this incredible sense of opportunity, and hopefulness, and joy in the idea that, together we will actually create something not just better, but beautiful. Thank you, Miya and Steph. Wow. That conversation really gave me chills. What a beautiful offering. Rise with us. Dream with us. Act with us. Tap into Rise by listening to music loud. Put on your favorite record, track, or anthem and feel the rhythms of liberation move through you. and connect with us at @TaprootEarth on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook using the hashtag #ClimateOnTap. We'd love it if you share Climate On Tap with your people, send them this episode or invite them to sign up for the series.