“That which touches me most is that I had a chance to work with people
Passing on to others that which was passed on to me
To me young people come first, they have the courage where we fail
And if I can but shed some light as they carry us through the gale
The older I get the better I know that the secret of my going on
Is when the reins are in the hands of the young who dare to run against the storm
Not needing to clutch for power, not needing the light just to shine on me
I need to be one in the number as we stand against tyranny
Struggling myself don’t mean a whole lot, I’ve come to realize
That teaching others to stand up and fight is the only way my struggle survives.”

From “Ella’s Song,” by Bernice Reagan Johnson (a tribute to Ella Baker)

Over seven years ago I decided that I needed to change my life and focus much more of my time and energies on the mega-issue of the climate crisis. At the time, there wasn’t much of a youth climate movement. My decision to change my life had nothing to do with a response to such a thing, because it didn’t yet exist.

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