Youth Gathering Together for a Climate Strike in Davis

A diverse coalition of youth-led and adult-led individuals and organizations is planning an intergenerational day of strike on Friday, September 20, in solidarity with a Global Climate Strike. The #FridaysforFuture movement, launched by Swedish teen Greta Thunberg and co-led by Davis-connected Alexandria Villasenor (@alexandriaV2005), is asking youth and adults worldwide to walk out of school and places of work, launching an entire week of climate action ending the following Friday, September 27.

Youth and adults worldwide will walk out of their homes and workplaces to demand climate justice and emergency action to tackle the climate crisis. A group of determined youth and adults would like to see a big showing here in Davis.

This past March a small group of elementary and some high schoolers gathered in front of the library with supportive parents. Read more about that event here.

Young people have both simple messages and targeted ones. Photo credit: Johan Verink.

A group of elementary and high school students met again this past Monday and shared their vision for a healthier world, staring with the basics of reducing greenhouse gasses to “less factory farming.” Other asks from the students, from second grade to high school senior, included:

Reduce plastics in the trash
Stop burning the Amazon
Less cars
Stop clear cutting
More bikes
Government take more action
Consume less
Make climate change not a political issue
More electric cars
More recycling
More public transit and access
More people acknowledge climate change
More people to work on change

Graphical notes were recorded from the youth meeting held this past Monday.

Graphical notes from the youth climate strike meeting held this past Monday. Courtesy photo.

Student organizers are asking community members to spread the word and make it big! Youth and supportive parents plan to write letters to community members, civic leaders, business owners, and more to invite them to join in the strike, support their actions, and pledge to work harder to ensure a better future.

Amber C.A., Davis High School Senior, Class of 2020, spoke at the Cool Davis Coalition meeting to spread the word and garner support. Community activist Lynne Nittler shared photos from the worldwide movement and the local one here in Davis on March 15, 2019.