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Speaker Pelosi: Meet with Extinction Rebellion Hunger Strikers
** Campaign created by Eric Tien and Stephen Leas, 13-Day Hunger Strikers **
This is wrong. We shouldn’t have to starve ourselves just to meet with you. Our generation will live with the decisions you make. Please sit down for one hour with youth climate hunger strikers to discuss the greatest crisis the world has ever faced.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION TO HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI.
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Two weeks ago, fifteen activists with Extinction Rebellion, some as young as 17, went on a hunger strike in Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washington, DC. All we asked for was a one-hour recorded meeting to discuss climate action. We are all terrified for our futures and willing to risk our own health to prevent catastrophic warming.
Each day our condition grew worse. Some would get dizzy when trying to stand. Many suffered hunger pangs that kept them from sleeping. But she wouldn’t even speak to us.
After a few days, most of the hunger strikers could not continue. But two pushed on: Eric, 27, and Stephen, 28. On the sixth day, Eric’s mom called him crying and begged him to eat again, saying she couldn’t sleep anymore.
The two hunger strikers stayed hungry while Speaker Pelosi flew back to California. They skipped holiday dinners while she enjoyed Thanksgiving with her family. Their loved ones pleaded with them to eat. Multiple doctors advised them to eat. But they knew that everyone’s future was on the line, so they continued to sacrifice their bodies.
By day thirteen, Eric had lost 16 pounds and Stephen had lost 23. Finally on December 1st, under immense pressure from friends, family, and doctors, they agreed to eat. They hadn’t received so much as a word from Pelosi. Eric and Stephen are in recovery now.
We believe that Pelosi has a moral responsibility to meet with the young people whose future she is deciding. Please ask her to honor their sacrifice and sit down with them for one hour: it’s the least she can do. Thank you.
After signing the petition, please use the tools on the next webpage to share it with your friends.
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-- The RootsAction.org Team
P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.
Background:
> Eric Tien, The Guardian: "My Hunger Strike Could Be Deadly, But I Am Willing to Risk That for Climate Action"
> The Real News: "Extinction Rebellion Hunger Strike in its 10th Day"
www.RootsAction.org
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