Philly Strikes Back
Tal Netz (11-3)
Photograph from WHYY
On September 20th, activists across the world took to the streets to bring attention to the growing climate crisis. Masterman students, livid with the current situation, decided to contribute to the movement by starting Masterman’s climate change club, known as Sunrise Masterman. The Sunrise Movement is a nation-wide organization fueled by teens working to “stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process” (The Sunrise Movement). The Masterman branch of the Sunrise Movement works in cooperation with the larger organization and the Philadelphia hub to spread their mission statement.
Sabirah Mahmud, a student at Palumbo, is the Pennsylvania Climate Strike State Lead and an active member of the Sunrise Movement. Those who attended the march have heard her speech and know that Sabirah has family in Bangladesh who died due to floods and pollution caused by climate change. This, and the growing publicity surrounding the climate crisis on social media, spurred her to take action and adopt a leadership role in Philadelphia’s strides towards a greener Earth. Mahmud also expressed that environmental racism was a forefront effect of the climate crisis that she was looking to address. “Low income communities and poor air quality walk hand-in-hand,” she explained. She and other members of the Sunrise Movement are hard at work to advocate for minority neighborhoods who receive less attention from the City and thus endure poorer living conditions due to climate change.
With much planning and organizing, the Philly Climate Strike ended up being a smashing success with over 1,100 attendees. Students, parents, professionals, and teachers circled City Hall chanting “We strike back!” and “What do we want? - Climate justice! - When do we want it? - Now!” Following the march, Mahmud remarked: “I was super empowered and emphatic about that amount of people who showed up and supported. I’m beyond honored to be a part of the amazing pro-climate change community.” To those who are unwilling to support the movement, Mahmud says: “...the climate crisis affects us the most. It’s destroying our planet and our future. The climate crisis is true and it's real. It's happening right now. Even if you don’t want to take action, we’ll take it for you.” Contributing to the movement does not take much. “Individual action is not accessible to everyone,” explained Mahmud, but small lifestyle changes like eating less red meat and recycling are small contributions that can amount to a large change. “Even if you have limited resources, you can still get involved. Join a climate change organization. I promise we are very welcoming. Consider it like a second home.”
Sunrise Masterman follows the example of the larger Sunrise Movement and works to attack the climate crisis on a smaller level in our school community. In a typical Sunrise Masterman meeting, attendees discuss recent news and how larger climate change ideas and efforts can be applied to our school. With the encouragement of Sunrise Masterman leaders and members, over 70 Masterman students attended the September climate strike. The premier Sunrise Masterman mission is to improve the recycling system at Masterman and make the guidelines surrounding it more clear. The members are also working towards preparing for the next climate strike which will take place in either late November or early December (TBD). “We’re aiming to get 10,000 people from Philly to come out to the next strike - I know - pretty ambitious, but we’re capable. The goal is to get bigger with every strike and we’re not gonna stop regardless of the outcome of the presidential election. We can’t stop fighting,” remarked Carmen Siftar (11-3), one of the leaders of Sunrise Masterman. Do your part in stopping the climate crisis by making small lifestyle changes or by joining Sunrise Masterman. As Sabirah said: “climate change is very real and it’s not stopping,” so pitch in!