Maine Youth Make Change: Sadri plans a climate justice workshop in Lewiston

For her community action project, MEEA Fellow Sadri Mohamed organized a climate justice workshop with Community Organizing Alliance in Lewiston.

Lewiston high schoolers had deep conversations about indigenous sovereignty, youth leadership, and climate justice, and were able to build some practical organizing skills and make a plan to stay engaged. The group of youth identified litter, especially in low-income neighborhoods in Lewiston, as their biggest concern. They highlighted the differences in the condition of and attention paid to places like Kennedy Park and the Tree Street neighborhoods as compared to wealthier areas of the city. After the workshop, they organized a community clean up day with the City of Lewiston.

Sadri shared a bit in an interview with MEEA about her experience organizing the workshop —

Why did you decide to plan a climate workshop with the Community Organizing Alliance (COA) for your community action project?

Sadri: COA has been a hallmark organization for Lewiston/Auburn youth. I had known and worked for Safiya Khalid since I was a kid, so hearing about a potential collaboration was incentivizing for me. The COA team was so kind, and big thanks to Kyle Manning and negina lawler-naluai from MEEA for working with me!

What was the focus of the curriculum for the COA climate workshop?

Sadri: The focus of the curriculum was to create a bridge for environmental justice through an interactive curriculum — one that didn’t ask for students to sit and listen and mimic a classroom setting, but to use every tool, such as hearing, sensing, and walking, to really digest and learn about the Earth they live on!

Why is providing opportunities for Lewiston/Auburn young people to learn about climate justice important?

Sadri: It’s especially important that we provide opportunities for Lewiston/Auburn youth to learn about climate justice because of how centered the environment is in Maine. Our state is 90% trees and yet because of systemic failures, most Lewiston/Auburn youth don’t learn about environmental science or climate justice. As an L/A youth, I didn’t know enough about climate justice until college. Therefore, not only do I believe it’s important for L/A youth to learn about the climate, I also think it’s a form of climate justice to empower through knowledge.

What do you hope participants took away from the workshop and how they incorporate those learning into their daily lives moving forward?

Sadri: I hope that participants took the lesson of rest away from the workshop. Honestly, the most important thing to me was that participants were able to take a break from their daily lives to learn something new! Even if that’s incorporating more walks outside or taking time out of their day to appreciate the Earth we have.

Sadri is a second year student at Smith College. Learn more about MEEA’s Fellowship program here.