Reflections on People and Planet First Summit — October 2017
Movement Politics: What That Means for You and Me
“What is movement politics?”
If you asked me this question three weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been able to answer, but now, it’s a term so important to me that I have to share.
Recently, I attended the People and Planet First Summit in Wakefield, Virginia to learn more about climate change issues and answered the question, “What should I do now?” The Summit was honestly such an enlightening experience. With many different types of people from around the country, I found empowerment in knowing that every single person came there for a unifying reason: to fight for what they believe in. I met all kinds of beautiful humans who were and are mistreated by the government that should be protecting them. Conversations with these people evoked so much vulnerability and emotional bonds.
Throughout the three short days we were there, we had six breakout sessions that ranged from agitational training, personal narrative training, to Clean Water rights and more. From all the trainings, I was most inspired by Movement Politics.
Right now, the way our politics is run is through transitional politics. We replace or transition from one politician(s) for another. Movement politics, however, is trying to transform the system. Instead of electing another politician, the people chooses to elect someone in the progressive movement like people of color, women, LGBTQ folks, and the poor/working class; those who are most affected by policy. Movement politics moves power away from the 1% to the 99%, people like us. Through this movement, we must elevate people power, have 1:1 conversations, direct action, and more. This movement, our movement is building people up to take on politicians who don’t listen, creating solutions that our politicians won’t address and take control of our broken democracy.
Yes, this sounds all nice and fluffy in theory, but why should anybody believe in movement politics? Simple, because regular people like me are running for office. We know that many politicians who are in office now do not have our best interest at heart, so who better to represent us… than us?
PLAN-ista Reflections
The environmental justice summit gave me new ideas on what activism can look like, and what we can all do to protect our communities. Meeting organizations like PUSH Buffalo, Cooperation Jackson, and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth have shown me that the people can, and do, come together to rebuild their communities to benefit the people living there. I’m excited to take what I’ve learned and help Reno in becoming a community that creates sustainable economies, and provides for everyone that lives here. — Kyra Rehard, Social Work Intern, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN)
I was in awe of all the ways individuals are revolutionizing their communities in countless ways such as legislative accountability and city-wide cooperative projects. We participated in workshops to build leadership, narratives, and awareness of environmental injustices affecting communities of color, indigenous, and low-income communities. I fell in love with the vulnerabilities people were sharing for the sake of creating narratives to ignite our efforts in dismantling the current system that does not put People and Planet first. — Gianni Giuliano, Environmental Justice Fellow, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN)
The summit helped to clarify a national agenda focused on centering the leadership and interests of people of color and working class, and dismantle false narratives of people vs planet. It was an opportunity for our staff to form relationships with organizers from across the country who help to inform and inspire our own work, and who were informed of our work. — Ian Bigley, Environmental Justice and Mining Intern, PLAN & Great Basin Resource Watch
For more information on the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada’s Environmental Justice work and getting involved, visit http://ej.planevada.org; in addition, visit our partner’s site, People’s Action, to learn more about how we, together, can create a world where we all have what we need to thrive, achieve, and feel our full worth at home, at work, and in our communities.
