Call to Action: Al Gore creates Climate Change Opportunity

Over the weekend, students from Southern University joined thousands of fellow students, activists and politicians for a 3-day training with the Climate Reality Project, which was founded by former Vice-President Al Gore in 2006.
The training, held in the Georgia World Congress Center, served the purpose of educating attendees on how to help their communities organize and speak out about climate related issues, acknowledging and targeting climate issues of regions such as “Cancer Alley” of Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., Haiti, California and many more.
Attendees included students from various universities, students who were brought by the HBCU Community Development Action Coalition, expatriates, and various others. Along the course of this 3-day conference, attendees were able to experience seminars led by numerous community organizers and scientists from around the world, and were guided through the training by their mentors.
Former Vice-President Al Gore gave a presentation centered around the inspiration surrounding the creation of the Climate Reality Project, with an in-depth explanation on the several elements of climate issues.
Comedian Pete Davidson joined Al Gore onstage, performing a humorous “translation” of the impact of climate change. At the end of his slideshow and presentation, Gore gave a brief call to action: “The will to change is itself a renewable resource.”
Attendees and community members were invited to an interfaith service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the historic church-home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This service was titled, “A Moral Call to Action on the Climate Crisis,” and included sermons led by religious and spiritual leaders from Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Cherokee communities. Many elements of the conference were tied into the service, with a specific lense placed on the importance of minority groups in the movement.
Several seminars were introduced to students that addressed every significant aspect of community organizing, ranging from running for political offices to amplifying social narratives.
Gore spoke to community organizer Bishop William Barber II on the concept of ‘fusion politics’ and intersectionality. Barber explained how. “[We, the community,] cannot operate in our silos, we have to have an intersectional moral-fusion agenda that challenges [systems of oppression].”
Jerome Foster II, a student among those that led strikes with millions of others at their schools in acknowledgement of environmental injustice, energized the audience with his chant of , “Today we strike, tomorrow we vote!” Alongside him on the stage were other youth activists such as Levi Draheim, Gabrielle Heidrich and Lily Levin, who discussed how they have raised awareness surrounding climate change in their own communities.
Attendees were able to experience testimonials from past-trainees who utilized their learning in their own communities and others, and a brief speech from the Climate Reality Project President, Ken Berlin.
Before ending the conference and presenting trainees with their Green Rings, Gore paid his respects towards those who were murdered in a White supremacist attack at the Christchurch mosque in New Zealand. He also expressed disapproval with President Donald Trump’s dialogue following the event, and encouraged attendees to vote in the 2020 presidential elections.