John,
My name is Naina and I’m 16 years old from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Six months ago, I had never organized an action. But on Sept 20th, I helped organize a strike here in my hometown with 7,500 people!
I was able to do it because of the support I got from friends and mentors in Sunrise who I met through the strike planning process. And I know that you can do the same.
On December 6th, young people all across the country are gonna be striking again. This is our chance to show politicians everywhere that what happened in September wasn’t a one-time thing--we’re gonna keep striking all the way until we win a Green New Deal.
You can bring the climate strikes to your town--Sunrise will support you every step of the way. Join me on our mass video call next Wednesday at 8pm connect with mentors, build a strike team, and get the tools start planning your strike.
When I first started planning for the strike, I was super nervous that not enough people would show up. But Sunrise leaders helped me make recruitment strategies that worked. One of the most effective strategies I found was just talking to people.
I remember one night, a friend texted me, “I don’t wanna be mean, but do you think the government’s really gonna care what you’re doing? You’ve seen the people in office -- do you believe they’ll do anything?”
I wrote back, “Yes. The reason they don’t do anything is because we haven’t engaged in mass mobilization yet. Throughout history, we’ve seen that it takes YEARS of marching, sitting in, and striking to get something done. But there comes a point where they have to ‘do something.’”
After that, he actually told me he was convinced, and he ended up recruiting several of his friends to strike with him.
In conversations like that, when I could see how I was directly growing our movement just by talking to people my age and recruiting them to strike, I felt so powerful. And that feeling only grew until strike day when my friends and I stood on a stage in front of 7,500 people, sharing our stories, and feeling our deep power together.
I want you to have that feeling, too.
Organize a climate strike in your town and see what it feels like to reclaim control of our future by building the power of the movement all around you. We already have a plan for you, and we’re ready to help you put it into action. Join our mass video call next Wednesday at 8pm to get started.
See you there.
Naina Agrawal-Hardin
