Thank You for Joining Us!
We are deeply grateful to everyone who attended Moving Towards Climate Justice on September 19 at Rainier Arts Center. Together, we explored how climate change disproportionately impacts BIPOC communities and discussed how reimagining our transportation system can advance climate justice and equity.
Key Takeaways from Moving Towards Climate Justice
1) Centering Impacted Communities
Climate justice cannot be achieved without centering the leadership and sovereignty of Indigenous communities and those most affected by environmental harm. As Samara Almonte emphasized in her land acknowledgment, Indigenous leadership is critical in the fight for global climate justice. Senator Rebecca Saldaña and Tanisha Sepúlveda further stressed that the communities who have long faced health disparities and environmental degradation must lead the charge in creating solutions.
2) Intersectionality and Accessibility
Tanisha Sepúlveda underscored the importance of including the disabled community in the climate justice movement, reminding us that our fight for equity must be inclusive and accessible to all. Maria Abando of Whose Streets? Our Streets! highlighted that accessibility must be a core consideration in both the movement and the solutions we create.
3) Youth Leadership and Community Resilience
Bailey Medilo’s call for a future where young people no longer have to fight for basic infrastructure was a poignant reminder of the power of youth leadership. Their vision of community-led development and ownership as a solution to displacement resonated with the audience.
4) The Power of Art and Storytelling
Jourdan Imani Keith and Jerrell “Rell Be Free” Davis captivated the audience with spoken word performances that honored ancestral connections and reinvigorated the fight for climate justice. Their words emphasized that art and storytelling are essential tools in inspiring action and sustaining movements.
5) Climate is on the Ballot this November
Mike O’Brien, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Board Member, emphasized the power of voting in advancing climate justice. With critical initiatives on the ballot, like voting No on Initiative 2117 (which would undo the Climate Commitment Act) and Yes on Seattle Proposition 1 (to invest in safer, more sustainable streets), Seattle residents have an opportunity to shape the future of climate action.
Missed the event?
You can rewatch the event on YouTube using the button below.
Also, stay tuned for more opportunities to get involved in our ongoing work towards transportation equity and climate justice in Seattle.
Featured Guests
Yalonda Sindé
Moderator
Yalonda Sindé is an award-winning community leader who many have hailed as the mother of the northwest environmental justice movement. For thirteen years she served as the Executive Director of the Community Coalition for Environmental Justice (CCEJ), one of the most influential northwest environmental justice groups of its time.
Ms. Sinde now serves as a consultant to nonprofit organizations in all areas of organizational development, in particular, fund development, program management, community organizing, policy advocacy, strategic planning, and operations management.
Tanisha Sepúlveda
Panelist
Tanisha Sepúlveda has a background in architectural engineering drafting and is a program coordinator for Empower Movement WA, a coalition of BIPOC and disabled mobility advocates supported by Disability Rights Washington (DRW) and Front and Centered. As a power wheelchair user since 2010, Sepúlveda recognizes the lack of accessibility in the built environment and advocates for equitable access to transit and housing, with a focus on sidewalk repair and maintenance.
Bailey Medilo
Panelist
Bailey Medilo is a Southeast Seattle-based economic justice and anti-war organizer. They organize at the intersections of climate justice, international organizing, and workers' rights.
Bailey is the Digital and Communications Organizer at Washington Bus, a statewide movement-building organization that increases political access and participation for young people across Washington State and develops the next generation of young leaders.
Senator Rebecca Saldaña
Panelist
Senator Rebecca Saldaña, a proud Chicana of Mexican and Germanic roots, represents Washington's 37th Legislative District and serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Caucus. With over 20 years of experience in labor and community organizing, including leadership roles with SEIU Local 6 and the United Farm Workers, she has built a strong reputation as a problem-solver and persistent champion for social justice.
She is the prime sponsor of the HEAL Act- that put environmental justice into state law.
Jerrell “Rell Be Free” Davis
Performer
In full effect Jerrell "Rell Be Free" Davis is a multifaceted Creative and community organizer based in the South End of Seattle.
As an organizer, Circle Keeping, education, and the arts are all a part of him being an Educator. As a musician Rell has released 11 projects/albums he is a high-energy and prolific performer, and he continues to create spaces for young artists to be elevated.
Jourdan Imani Keith
Performer
Jourdan Imani Keith is a Black Arts Legacies 2023 awardee and Seattle’s 2019- 2022 Civic Poet.
Featured in Forbes and on NPR, her Orion Magazine essays, “Desegregating Wilderness” and “At Risk” appear in the Best American Science and Nature Writing Anthology and textbooks. The founder of Urban Wilderness Project she leads its R U An Endangered Species™ Women and Whales First: Poetry in a Climate of Change campaign which features the podcast series of the same name.
Thanks to Our Sponsors
Thank you to the Seattle Neighborhood Greenways' 2024 sponsors who made Moving Towards Climate Justice possible.
