Greta comes to NYC
Why does it take a child to point out the emperor has no clothes?
Like after an angry, young man shot up their school, it took a group of kids from Parkland, FL, to start a nationwide campaign to pass meaningful, common sense gun reform.
The same kids, in turn, inspired Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg to start her own worldwide phenomenon, #FridaysForFuture. Every Friday for the past year, Greta has been protesting the I’ll-be-dead-by-then attitude most adults are taking towards our #ClimateEmergency.
Since then, she’s appeared before the European Union, British Parliament; she has her own TED talk, and has even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In January she scolded foremost economic and political leaders at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, saying, “I want you to act as if the house is on fire. Because it is.”
Greta recently crossed the Atlantic in a sailboat to address the United Nations Climate Action Summit next Monday.
She seems astounded by our debate over whether we believe in climate change.
“Where I’m from,” she says, “it’s a fact.”
It appears her message is catching on, and, predictably, rightwing talking heads have been mocking the sixteen-year-old girl, calling her "mentally unstable.” FYI, Greta has Asperger’s.
So, these people are actually making her point for her when she asks, where are the adults?
"You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden to leave to us children.” https://twitter.com/Avaaz/status/1073...
Kids have a right to be outraged when we say we love them, yet allow the destruction of their future.
Greta asks, what’s the point in learning facts at school when those facts mean nothing to politicians and our society?
As teachers and parents, we have a moral responsibility to show our kids that facts matter; that our actions matter. We must do whatever it takes to save their world from certain environmental collapse, regardless of the cost.
After all, in the words of a little girl, “If we can save the banks, we can save the planet.”
This Friday, September 20, millions of children, workers and our unions will join climate activists around the world in demanding an end to fossil fuels. To find an action near you, or create your own, you can visit globalclimatestrike.net.
Greta comes to NYC - YouTube