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September 5, 2018
While taking an environmental politics course the second semester of our senior year in high school, we quickly realized what is so often omitted from the rhetoric we hear about climate change: it’s not just an issue that affects our children or grandchildren, it’s an issue that affects all of us right now. We, Generation Z, may not have made the same contribution to global warming that our parents and grandparents did, but we’re still going to bear the brunt of its effects. As Americans and as global citizens, we have a unique responsibility to take action—and that’s what our work as Co-Head Coordinators of Zero Hour NYC, organizing a youth-led climate march on July 21st, is all about.
Zero Hour was founded by Jamie Margolin, a 16-year-old from Seattle, Washington who wanted to galvanize her peers in the fight against climate change. Since its founding, Zero Hour has succeeded in uniting youth voices across the country and globe, and in building bridges across social movements to create an intersectional and powerful coalition dedicated to both social and environmental justice. On July 21st, Zero Hour will stage an international Youth Climate March—with the main march in Washington, DC and sister marches from NYC to Melbourne, Australia—demanding a fossil-fuel free future and a just transition to 100% renewable energy.
Here in NYC, our Zero Hour chapter is partnering with a diverse array of activist groups and organizations to maximize turnout for our NYC Youth Climate March. We have worked closely with People’s Climate Movement, 350NYC, 350.org, Alliance for Climate Education, and the Youth Progressive Policy Group. We are also working with People’s Puppets to engage youth through art and add another dimension to our message of building a more sustainable future.
The NYC March will begin at Columbus Circle at 11am and end at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza by UN Headquarters, where it will be followed by a Rally featuring student speakers from various backgrounds in environmental activism. Through their speeches, we hope to make more accessible an issue that can often feel detached from our everyday lives or grounded in statistics—really, tackling climate change is as much about humanitarianism, concern for our fellow humans’ lives and livelihoods, as it is about science. In addition to students, adult allies, and organizational partners, we are encouraging elected officials, political candidates, and businesses to prove their commitment to a more sustainable future by joining us in our March and at our Rally.
Our work does not stop here. We hope to show students that activism goes beyond attending demonstrations. That’s why we’re using the March to introduce students to the larger climate movement and publishing a post-march action guide that will detail some of the key ways they can grow their involvement in climate activism beyond July 21st.
To RSVP to our July 21st March, go to our Facebook and Eventbrite links. For more information, follow us on social media: Facebook/Instagram — @thisiszerohour.nyc & Twitter — @zerohournyc. Also, check out our website and email thisiszerohour.nyc@gmail.com with any press/general inquiries. Lastly, please donate to and share our grassroots fundraising campaign at gofundme.com/zerohournyc — we need your help to obtain the materials necessary to make our March and Rally the most impactful they can be!
To become more involved in the March, sign up here to be a day-of March volunteer. We’re holding a March Day Volunteers Training and Information Session on Wednesday, July 18th from 6-8pm at 125 Maiden Ln #5, New York, NY 10038, where we will prepare people who will help facilitate the march and go over in-person all of the critical march information, such as the route and transition to our post-march Rally (we will also publish all of this information online).
