More than 100 environmental activists in Memphis joined millions of others around the globe on Friday to draw attention to issues related to rising global temperatures in the lead-up to two major international conferences on climate change in New York Saturday and Monday.
Inspired by the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, who has garnered the attention of world leaders, young people were the centerpiece of Friday’s events.
The crowd in Memphis—many wearing green T-shirts specially made for the event—was of mixed ages, though youthful faces were in the clear majority.
“Memphis is one of the biggest cities in the South, people look up to Memphis,” says Jojo Sigala, 21, a student at the University of Memphis, who helped coordinate dozens of speakers and performers outside City Hall. “We really have to get our business together as far as climate stuff goes so other cities can follow.”
Activists say Memphis could reduce its environmental impact by improving the city’s recycling system, funding more public transportation and increasing oversight of local industries’ carbon emissions.
“I think all [public] buses should be hybrid buses,” says Jennifer Ruffin, 16, a high school student who took an unexcused absence to attend the event. “If Memphis put more of an emphasis on first what they can control, and then gradually moving to residents and citizens, that could be a good starting space.”
She adds that she has unsuccessfully tried to talk her mom, who gave her permission to attend the strike, into buying her a hybrid car.
Though attendees were encouraged to focus on policies and not politics, messages were tailored to local elected officials, asking that they prioritize curbing climate change.
Some wanted to see the city move away from its current electricity supplier, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and transition to a provider with more renewable energy options.
Others drew attention to environmental justice issues, such as industrial areas where pollution spills into poorer neighborhoods of color.
Two Memphis mayoral candidates, County Commissioner Tami Sawyer and businessman Lemichael Wilson, spoke at the event.
Sawyer told the crowd that “poor people are going to be the ones hit the hardest by climate change,” noting the burden that recent high temperatures in Memphis have created.
“Think about the people who can’t afford to have the air conditioning on because their [Memphis Light Gas and Water] bill is too high,” she said. “That’s why we have resources at the County Commission to try to help people tackle those issues.”
A talking point for some was Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ recent proposal to fund improvements to the Memphis Area Transit Authority through a so-called “sustainability fee,” which targets households with more than two cars, levying a $145 fee for each additional vehicle.
Though Duffy-Marie Arnoult says the mayor’s plan needs some tweaking, she admires his leadership on the issue.
“He has used the word climate change,” says Arnout, who co-chairs the Memphis chapter of the Climate Reality Project. “We just need to pay attention to who is talking about that.”
She says that citizens should also press Memphis business leaders for action on climate change. She encourages people to ask companies about their sustainability plans.
“I think they want to do the right thing,” she says. “I think they are going to start seeing that there is a demand and this is what the community wants. It’s what we need.”
Stay-at-home mom Rebecah Hatchel came to the strike to urge leaders to take contamination threats to the Memphis Aquifer—the source of the city’s drinking water—seriously.
She had some of the day’s youngest protestors in tow—her three children, ages 2, 4 and 6-months old. When asked why it was important for them to come, she replies, “This is their fight almost more than it is mine.”
“I have to advocate for them,” she adds.
Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled Sigala's last name.