<
https://www.politico.eu/article/greta-thunberg-climate-change-activism-fridays-for-future-profile-doesnt-want-you-to-talk-about-her-anymore-2022/>
"Greta Thunberg’s childhood ended during the pandemic.
Just a few months before the arrival of the coronavirus, the Swedish teenager
and her fellow activists had organized a march of millions — possibly the
largest climate protest in history. But lockdowns put an end to the boisterous
Fridays For Future school strikes, which Thunberg had pioneered and spread
around the world. With entire countries in isolation, Thunberg’s movement was
“paralyzed,” recalled Dominika Lasota, one of the group’s most prominent
figures in Poland.
The pandemic wasn’t just a body blow for an organization completely reliant on
momentum from the streets. For many of the activists involved, it also deprived
them of a place to give voice to a shared dread: what kids in these times call
“climate anxiety.”
It was in search of community, as much as anything, that Thunberg and her
friends started hosting “digital strikes” on Zoom. The gatherings were
sometimes loosely organized and sometimes barely at all. Oddly, for a bunch of
kids considering the apocalypse, the vibe was all about having fun.
“They weren’t even work calls, we would just play music and hang out with each
other,” said Mitzi Jonelle Tan, the convener of Youth Advocates for Climate
Action Philippines and a Fridays For Future organizer. In contrast to
Thunberg’s popular public image, which is largely based on the angriest
segments of her speeches, those who know her describe her as warm, caring,
funny, extremely blunt and, at times, silly.
Alongside the goofing, the Zoom calls also changed something fundamental about
Thunberg’s movement. Built around local marches, started in Europe, the group
had been dominated by white, Northern Europeans concerned less about the
present than the future. Suddenly, they were face-to-face with activists from
around the world for whom climate change was real, pressing and immediate."
Via Garry Knight.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
