As a third generation Oakland resident, I’ve witnessed environmental injustice firsthand in my community. I live in a majority BIPOC neighborhood, where we experience a vastly disproportionate amount of resources such as education, housing, and environmental protection compared to more affluent Bay Area cities.
This is what inspired me to become actively involved in climate activism since the sixth grade. My first introduction to climate activism was a No Coal in Oakland protest with my middle school’s youth activist club. I later joined Warriors for Justice, a youth-led climate justice coalition, which allowed me to combine my long standing passion for environmental justice to fight for today’s climate issues.
These experiences have taught me a lot about organizing small to large-scale events and interacting with all types of people in the community.
It’s important that the youth’s voices are heard. We are the present and future of our world. This means that the youth must demand climate protection for the future of our communities, so that the people in power listen. But climate activism isn’t just about climate change; it intersects issues such as the housing crisis, livable wages, environmental protection, education access, and more.
Because these intersecting issues affect the youth and older generations alike, the need for adult support is equally as important. As youth, many of us cannot vote yet we must depend on the adults in our community to listen and help build a sustainable world.
I have spent most of my teen years as a climate activist, and I don’t plan on stopping. While the work is often slow, the momentum hasn’t stopped. For example, No Coal in Oakland has been trying to stop investors from building a coal terminal in Oakland for over a decade. Our actions against the development are partially responsible for delaying the coal terminal from being built.
Though I’m a high school junior, I am no stranger to public speaking. I spoke at Harvard’s Alumni of Color conference in 2019, and I was a student speaker at Oaklands public education fund in 2019. I also led my fellow students from my middle school to each location at the 2019 Fridays for Future protest in San Francisco, a youth-led climate justice movement inspired by Greta Thunberg. I continue to work directly with organizations like Youth vs Apocalypse (YVA), Homies Empowerment, among many others.
Most recently, as part of my fellowship for YVA, I co-organized Envision students to join San Francisco’s Earth Day protest on April 21, 2023, where we protested in front of the San Francisco Civic Center and State Office complex building.
My interest in climate activism has grown from an after school club activity to pursuing a field related to the environment. By getting the opportunity to intern at Greenbelt Alliance, I’ve been able to learn more about the policies that protect our environments and communities. My experience at Greenbelt Alliance taught me that creating change takes many approaches, from the streets to the people at advocacy nonprofits like Greenbelt Alliance who help build a more equitable and sustainable world.
Because these intersecting issues affect the youth and older generations alike, the need for adult support is equally as important. As youth, many of us cannot vote yet we must depend on the adults in our community to listen and help build a sustainable world.
Sophia Lopez-Garcia is a high school junior at Envision Academy of Arts & Technology. She was the Greenbelt Alliance Spring 2023 Intern as part of the World of Work (WOW) Program and the Workplace Learning Experience for Envision Academy students. The WOW program encompasses a range of experiences in the 9th-12th grade that expose students to different career opportunities and encourage them to gain experience through volunteering, job shadowing, formal internships and work itself.
