Pilot

Join hosts Jerome Foster II & Elijah McKenzie-Jackson in the pilot episode of "A World Upside Down," as they explore their journey of becoming advocates for change. Delving into personal narratives and the intersection of activism and privilege, they uncover the motivations behind today's climate action movements.

Transcript

As I've grown up, I can't help but feel the sentiment in which this podcast is titled rings more and more true. And I believe many of us do too. Everything we've been taught as children feels to be misguided.
And what seemed to be very normal isn't anymore. It's as if the world is upside down. The concept of value and success has seemed to transform into mere numbers on a screen, often tied to acts of environmental and human degradation with an overwhelming applause.
The entire system feels broken.
This space serves as a way of working through it, a mission statement on how we perceive the world and how the world perceives us as young people. They say, you are your biggest enemy, and there's truth in that. However, let's examine this from a broader perspective.
Scientists have warned that humanity's greatest threat is humanity itself, with war, violence, and climate change looming large. Now more than ever, we need to engage in critical thinking, unravel falsehoods, and question what is generally right or wrong.
We're not here to provide answers, but to accompany you on the journey of us trying to understand life in the 21st century.
Jerome, I'm super excited that we're doing this podcast two years in the making. I would love to know a bit more about why you love podcasts so much.
Yeah, I love podcasts. I think it's really exciting to be coming together to make this because podcasts are a way for us to unravel the work that we do. And I think unlike other social media platforms, which require active participation, podcasts are really a form of passive thinking in which you're able to reflect and also listen.
It feels like a conversation and you're just listening in.
Yeah, I'd have to agree. I think intimacy when it comes to learning about such difficult topics and building character is really important. I think something which isn't shown this much at the moment is nuance and color within topics.
With the rise of short form content, with an attention span averaging around seven seconds, I think it's really hard to nail down the intricacies of climate change, activism, and what it's like really growing up in the 21st century. And I think that's what we want to do here. We want to give perspective or opinions and almost thought shower how we go about things in life and why we do things, because I think it's really interesting.
Yeah, I think that's really important because we're here to unveil the curtain and have raw conversations that don't go through editors, that are unfiltered.
We see high schoolers getting international attention for his activism. 17-year-old Jerome Foster II has held a climate strike in front of the White House for 57 weeks in a row.
Now! Elijah McKenzie-Jackson is a climate justice activist and artist who has played a leading role in the School Strike for Climate movement.
The Feast of Fridays for Future movement in the UK.
Elijah has been on hunger strike against a proposed coal mine in Cumbria in North West England.
Starting the first deep coal mine in 30 years, it's a joke, isn't it? I'm trying to do all I can to stop this from happening.
Elijah McKenzie-Jackson, previously known for his activism, is swiftly gaining recognition in the art world.
This art piece, for me, is a way to trigger people to think about the complex issues in society. When it comes to young people in Gen Z, who commonly use graffiti as an outlet for expression and rebellion.
Jerome Foster II is an environmental justice advocate.
White House environmental justice adviser, Jerome Foster II, accomplished climate voice at 19 years old.
Who creates social and environmental change. He is currently the co-founder of Wake Up, which is running a campaign called One Million of Us, to get one million young people to register to vote in the upcoming 2024 elections.
You Jerome, you broke the record of being the youngest person ever to be in the White House administration. You are the youngest ever member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. I think we're all wondering, how did you get there?
First, I think it's important to bring it back. I grew up in Washington, DC and was a nature lover. I spent a lot of time exploring creeks across the city with my dad.
He worked for the U.S.'s National Rail Service, so we used to spend a lot of time remembering to stop off at different train stops at each state to collect rocks for our collection. I used to spend a lot of time studying astrophysics as well as a kid, and my fascination for outer space quickly changed to me wanting to learn more about my own planet. And I started to read a different story, not one of wonder and respect, but of exploitation.
My life's work since has been about how we can connect that shared human experience of feeling that wonder and feeling that fascination with outer space to our outlook on our own planet.
I can absolutely understand where you're coming from. I've experienced the same feeling, a significant lack of public empathy and awareness when it comes to our planet and our species. The topic of space and the universe has always fascinated me.
I remember having a solar system mobile in my childhood bedroom, and I would lie there gazing at the ceiling, pondering the mysteries of life beyond humanity. I believe that our innate drive for exploration and humanity's core instincts to progress have somewhat veered away from the pursuit of knowledge and collective discovery. Instead, it seems to have shifted towards the pursuit of personal gain and monopolies, transforming what was such a valued shared narrative of discovering our own secrets into a race for praise and status.
Yeah, thank you for that, Elijah. It's disheartening to see the shift from collective curiosity to individualism. The spirit of exploration for the greater good of understanding our universe and preserving our planet keeps me motivated.
But Elijah, I know you studied sociology in school. I'd be super interested to hear your thoughts on how you grew up in comparison to my story. How did your upbringing affect your passion for environmental rights?
I'm a huge sociology nerd, and I do believe socialization plays a key role in who we become as adults and the norms and values we hold true to ourselves. I grew up with animal rights at the heart of everything I did, especially my diet. I've always viewed animals as equal to us, but as time goes on, food, industrial farming, and the meat industry has normalized.
The connection between an animal and what's on your plate disappears. And that played a huge role in why I'm a climate activist today. It hasn't for me.
It hasn't for many now. I'm going to read out a quick statistic.
Go for it.
Animal agriculture produces 65% of the world's nitrous oxide emissions, which has a global warming impact of 296 times greater than carbon dioxide. Raising livestock for human consumption generates nearly 15% of total global greenhouse emissions, which is greater than all transport emissions combined, according to the University of Colorado.
For a lot of people, and for me particularly, this is one of the reasons I chose to become plant-based. A macro top-down approach is essential for regulating animal agriculture, especially in the United States. Our international impact on deforestation, particularly for cattle ranches, is a significant concern affecting Indigenous communities, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas levels significantly.
Yes, I believe that combining individual changes whenever possible, taking into account often overlooked accessibility barriers with a much broader systematic change across all aspects of justice is critical in reshaping our coexistence with Earth. One important thing which influenced me a lot, I believe, is growing up with two mums, a same-sex couple going against a nuclear family. Growing up in such a diverse atmosphere, constantly surrounded by inclusivity, meant loads and has contributed to who I am today.
I think it brought a lot of diversity and colour into my life and challenged me to think outside the box and know that diversity should be celebrated. Inherently going against the norms and values of society built resilience and a thirst for creating further change. Any community that has pre-existing disadvantages in society will become even more vulnerable to climate change, which exacerbates these inequalities.
The LGBTQ plus community has constantly felt the brunt of climate change due to societal stigma of homophobia and transphobia, leading to limited resources like homelessness. When climate-related disasters occur, people rely on shelter for survival. I remember reading stories from trans folk being denied emergency shelter from typhoons in the Philippines.
In the United States, the homelessness population is dominated by queer folk who inevitably will face first-hand climate impact. Through education over the years, I've learned that this concept is called intersectionality.
Intersectionality originates in social justice movements. It refers to the interconnected nature of social categorization, such as race, class, gender, sexuality, and other forms of identity and oppression. The idea behind intersectionality is that these different aspects of an individual's identity does not exist independently, but they intersect and interact in complex ways, shaping a person's experience and access to privilege and oppression.
Intersectionality was coined by Kimberly Crenshaw, a legal scholar and civil rights advocate in the late 1980s. Crenshaw introduced the term in her work to address the limitations of legal frameworks in addressing discrimination faced by Black women. She argued that the law often treated racism and sexism as separate issues, failing to recognize how they intersected and compounded the discrimination experienced by Black women.
The concept has since been evolved and been embraced by various social justice and environmental movements and academic disciplines as a way to understand and address the complex and multifaceted nature of discrimination and inequality. It has been applied to analyze various forms of discrimination and privilege and to advocate for more inclusive intersectional approaches to social justice and activism. The first way I really understood intersectionality was through watching immigration happen on the U.S.-Mexico border and how that was being fueled by the climate crisis.
And I remember being 12 years old and trying to figure out what can I do to raise awareness of the fact that this issue shouldn't be met with violence but with compassion. And that's what led me to found TalVR.
I've heard quite a bit about TalVR, and it would be fascinating to learn more about the motivations driving your innovation and progressive startup at such a young age, I must add.
Of course, yes. I founded TalVR as an immersive demonstration on human rights connecting to environmental degradation. At 13 years old, I created virtuality environments which connected people to the place and the experiences that people were facing.
After creating a lot of virtuality environments, I realized that a lot of the work that I was doing wasn't reaching my peers because of accessibility issues back then. What I wanted to do was codify the work that I was making into more accessible bits through writings and through videos that they could easily digest. And that turned into The Climate Reporter where we wrote more articles.
Over time, that naturally progressed into me doing tech support for youth mobilizations.
Yeah, I believe that ensuring access to topics internationally overlooked in the media and education system is of utmost importance. We must begin and compensate by starting with education, which will ultimately lead into meaningful action.
But Elijah, I've seen entry points be difficult for young people. What would you say are some avenues you've seen are good for young people to enter into activism?
I think as a young person, there are numerous entry points into activism, each offering a unique opportunity to make meaningful impact on issues that matter most to us. One common starting point I've seen is connecting with grassroots organizations. Volunteering can be a way to address local challenges and build connections with like-minded people.
I started my activism journey through taking part in local organizing groups by analyzing impactful pressure points to push further for stricter environmental legislation through civil disobedience and external communication. Looking back, one role I've always found myself in was creating March banners and placards. I've studied fine arts since the age of 10.
I think this was a way for me to funnel my creativity and passion for art in an impactful way. One core memory, so to say, in my activism journey was creating the banner for the G7 climate strike in Cornwall, balancing various elements like readability, media retention, and conveying the urgency to key stakeholders in the conference, whilst representing the collective core for United World for Climate Action, felt like a powerful way to express my passion for the environment. As most things do, super late nights turned into very early mornings of designs, sketches, and paintings.
When the day of the climate strikes came, holding up that banner alongside fellow activists felt so impactful. Art became our voice that day, and it made me feel strong knowing that we can inspire change through creativity. Social media and online platforms also provide a powerful avenue for raising awareness and mobilising support for positive change.
Creating online campaigns, sharing information, and connecting with global networks of activists is constantly inspiring and I find super motivating. I am big on the support of participating in protest marches and rallies. The key I've always said is don't underestimate the power of education.
Becoming informed, learning and unlearning about the issues we're passionate about is critical in effective thought leadership. Engaging in conversation with friends, family and peers, as well as people you wouldn't usually be in connection with, is a crucial step in driving change by understanding there is an array of perspectives and not just one right answer. Everything has colour.
Ultimately, activism as a young person is about finding your passion, empowering your own voice and using your unique skills and perspectives to create a better world.
Congressman John Lewis was a central figure in the civil rights movement and a prominent congressman. Early in his life, he became a leader in the fight for racial equity as a freedom rider. The freedom riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decision that ruled segregated public buses unconstitutional.
Despite facing harsh violence and opposition, the freedom riders garnered national attention and were significant in the broader civil rights movement. Congressman John Lewis also served as the chairman of the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee, which played a large role in coordinating sit-ins and leading the civil rights movement's voter registration initiatives across the South. From organizing large demonstrations, their work led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was attributed as one of the largest policy wins of the civil rights movement, removing many barriers at the time for people of color to exercise their right to vote. Transitioning into politics in 1986, he was elected to Georgia's 5th congressional district until his passing. His tenure in Congress, where he was often referred to as the conscience of Congress.
John Lewis passed away on July 17, 2020, but his influence continued to inspire through the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the enduring legacy of the civil rights movement. During my internship with him, I had the privilege of learning from my fellow interns about the importance of voting and how his young people were often overlooked by many politicians. Today, it is crucial to address racial privilege and the injustices faced by the black community, such as wrongful incarcerations.
Shockingly, statistics reveal that black individuals are approximately seven and a half times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of crimes than their white counterparts in the United States. With an 80% higher likelihood of being innocent compared to others, as reported by the National Registry of Exonerations. Additionally, the issue of voting rights for those charged with criminal offenses varies by state.
In 11 states, individuals lose their voting rights permanently after being criminally charged. And these states include Iowa, Wyoming, Arizona, Delaware, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Maryland, and Missouri. It's evident that there is a pressing need to address these disparities and advocate for fair and equitable access to the democratic process for all citizens.
Jerome, every time I hear you speak, I get more and more inspired. And I think this emphasizes more than ever that we must come out and vote and utilize our collective strengths. There are so many barriers still in place, stopping marginalized communities from making their voices heard.
But people who do have privilege, it's on them. They must show up. We must pull up and be there, amplifying voices, supporting as much as we can.
I would say what everyone can do now is to make sure they reach people in society who wouldn't necessarily think about the privileges they have. This year, we have the American election coming up, so making sure you utilize your vote or encouraging others to do so is important and to recognize what you're voting for, our international brothers, sisters and non-binary siblings. Jerome, we attend many global conferences about climate change, and we met at one, which was COP26 in Glasgow, hosted by the United Nations.
I think something I grapple with is the contrast between such love, diversity and allyship between the community organizers there and everywhere, and the young people versus these huge oil giants and governments all just talking about money. The stark difference rings so true to me, and I think it's really metaphorical for the world we're living in right now. But I think you're a perfect person to talk a bit more about this and how we marry young people in grassroots organizing with governments to ensure that everyone gets heard and everyone has a seat at the table, especially marginalized communities and people at the forefront of the climate crisis.
Being a part of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council represents the growing power of Gen Z within political spaces. The policies that are being made today will primarily impact us, Gen Z. That means young people need a seat at the table and must be listened to.
This needs to scale to encompass the diversity of young people in communities that are being impacted first and worst by the climate crisis. As a part of this council, we create recommendations that contribute to the creation of programs like the American Climate Corps. We've seen over 50,000 young people sign up for jobs in climate mitigation and in conservation.
Thank you for that, Jerome. I can't stress enough how important it is for young people to be able to get these good jobs, which are in the green economy and within green energy, which can last for many generations. I think ending here on such a positive note is really important, and hopefully viewers can take something powerful away from our conversation today.
Jerome, I'm so thankful for collaborating on this journey of knowledge exploration and continuous thought-shattering, so to say. I'm super eager and excited for the next episode.
Yeah, let's do it.