Day 81 – the Eco Justice Project, the Fossil Free University, and Shado – See.Hear.Act.Do

Ayisha Siddiqa

 Day 81 – I wanted to follow up on Ayisha Siddiqa’s work and to find out a bit more about her – I love this interview of her on the Eco Justice Project website by Amber Chen.  Ayisha is a co-founder of the international youth-led coalition called Polluters Out. Begun after the collapse of talks at the COP 25, Polluters Out saw their mission as one of restoring the voice of youth and indigenous activists in taking on the issue of the control of the Fossil Fuel industry on Climate Change.  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change hosts a yearly “Conference of the Parties” (COP) bringing together the 197 nations which agree to ratify a treaty to “combat ‘dangerous human interference with the climate system’ and stabilize levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere” (The New York Times, April 18, 2022).

 

The energy and activism of the young people involved is very inspiring!  Polluters out began with 150 members from over 40 countries – and those voices are incredibly inspiring.  In addition, to cofounding Polluters Out, Ayisha previously had helped organize the 2019 young people’s climate strike in NY that corresponded to hundreds of thousands of people, primarily youth, worldwide participating in these protests! (I attended the Boston rally!)

 

Another exciting side to this exploration was all the work that went into developing the “Fossil Free University” – a free climate-justice education program.

 

FFU is a 12-week training course for climate justice activists around the world who want to channel the power of the youth movement to the source of the climate crisis. Created by #pollutersout, FFU teaches how to be a climate justice leader and fight the fossil fuel industry.
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An all-star faculty lead classes from the science of the climate crisis to the tenets of being an effective activist, including how to Follow the Money, Expose the False Solutions, Find Your Movement, Hold the Industry Accountable, and Campaign Against Corporate Rule and for Climate Justice.

 

The Eco-Justice Project in and of itself was exciting – their subtitle – “Intersectional climate advocacy and education.”

 

The Eco Justice Project is a digital platform that educates on global climate justice, promotes intersectional climate action, and seeks to make sustainable living more accessible and inclusive by amplifying the voices and stories of marginalized communities and people. 

 

I was completely inspired by the young people who started the Project – and their strong voices!

 

Siddiqa’s work also led me to an interview of her by a magazine called “Shado – See.Hear.Act.Do”  I was particularly interested in their mission to include the arts in their activism:

 

shado is a lived-experience led community of artists, activists and journalists united in the fight for social justice.

shado was born out of a frustration at the lack of space for people to take control of their own stories. We believe that those with lived experience of a topic or injustice are best placed to advocate for meaningful change within that space: shado is a platform for these people. We also didn't think there were enough platforms for different fields to work in collaboration towards social justice – so, with shado, we want to bring a network of people together to cultivate a culture-led system change.

shado is an online and print magazine.

shado provides a physical space for those across different fields, who are currently working in isolation, to co-exist. We work with a community of over 300 artists, activists and journalists in over 50 countries around the world to spotlight and celebrate necessary and innovative stories.

 

And the question that came to me was – what role do expressive arts therapists have in this fight for justice???  How does our work reflect, support, integrate, accompany, ignite, and get inspired by this work?