Joy and so my family has a push me and my brothers, twin beds together and me my brother and both of my parents shared a bed for four months while our House was rebuilt three years later hurricane do stop in New Orleans and again we evacuated ticket. That's what you do But this time the storm not only hit New Orleans but it moved North to Baton Rouge where we had evacuated to and most of the city of Baton Rouge lost power on that day including the hotel but we had evacuated too on that day in order Get out of the hotel and me and my brother I was eight years old at the time and he was 10 We had to help carry my wheelchair written and down 20 flights of stairs without air conditioning just to get out of the hotel Unfortunately, stories like mine are just the norm of New Orleans That's what you do evacuation is a way of life for us and unfortunately my case is one of the best cases in this instance because they are thousand, there are over a thousand people that lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Katrina and they Countless more who lost their homes in this month, August is the fourteenth anniversary of Katrina and many of those communities have still not been rebuilt Community that still have been rebuilt 14 years later this climate crisis is an economic crisis It is Associated Crisis Yes And that's why as the storms continue to get worse and worse I am here today to tell the Fcc got it is not enough to pass these resolutions at the state level for Massachusetts because if we do not become a voice for change for the entire country and for the entire world it will not happen in Red States like Louisiana so we have to fight for those who do not have politicians that will stand up for them Satisfied and say that we have done everything we can for the state of Massachusetts because it is a global issue that will have devastating effects on the entire world If the entire world does not begin to cut carbon emissions by next year we need a Green new deal Americans deserve to know that the Green new deal will not only save millions of lives but it will create jobs for American people across the country and it will be our future who Yeah Side No Sponging everyone's like oh Jon Everything you need to have happen so they know how important this is our science and all this has to happen now, we need to keep pressing the members so why Picture for a moment Your safe havens Do you feel it that feeling That's the feeling I had when I was going to visit my pants in my hometown in Ashland, Oregon I'm so excited. My picture The Green Hills the Valley the Purple Mountains That was the thing I was thinking about the thing that I thought about the most was running my regular routine running through those Woods I picture that Hill the Hill. I always ran up with a little lamp post at the top and the little trail that led to the forest I was so excited to run up that Hill don't when I got off the plane my husband, my parents and I created them for my mom smile that she handed me a particle mask for Of you who don't know a particle mask is something that you wear to keep hazardous toxins out of your lungs So is it? This is fine I put it on and I walked out into the parking lot and it was covered in smoke And the whole car ride home. I was searching for that Valley those I can't see them in fact all I could see was the outline of the Sun but I was determined to run up the Hill I was determined to go outside so the next day I put on my partisan mask and I ran out the door and I was so ready I got to the bottom of the Hill I was so energized and I kept running and I kept thinking this is fine This is fine but the particle Max made a kinda hard to breathe but I kept thinking this is fine. It's fine. I was halfway up the Now put the particle mask made it hard to breathe so I kept gasping and panting This is fine but then my vision started to blur This is fine and then I saw the little lamp post and I wanted to touch it but I couldn't reach it because this particle mask was suffocating me and then I looked around at the neighborhood and the neighborhood Had made my safe haven and it was alien to me You see King that fires were just as common as the season I grew up thinking that buying particle masks and a grocery store was just another commodity I stopped running I didn't finish my route like I usually did I went home to say Thank you I can't pretend anymore It's not okay I have stared into the face of Armageddon and I have made a choice before it hasn't affected me My my House was was positioned just North enough I had always seen fire at a distance but now that it surrounded me I couldn't ignore it but it was spreading so I decided to start looking into politics II look the local elections. I followed policy and I started to understand that politics were connected It's not just one issue. There were people who died that day. I was lucky I made a choice I didn't recognize fire I didn't recognize disaster until it was at my doorstep But it shouldn't take an evacuation signal to get people to listen It shouldn't take staring into the face of Armageddon to get people to pay attention So we're calling on your PC to pass this resolution to have this debate on a National level I am the fire at your doorstep Drink up Stand up Stop running Whoo Story this like I guess this is reinforcing the fact that we need to do this Now We need a comments debate now and we need Justice now whether When do we want it now What do we want it now What do we want Speaking to all the members that we demand this now cuz this isn't just a state level thing. This isn't just a National level thing This is a global crisis and we need to act immediately cuz there's already people being devastated by it so with that said I wanna welcome another Speaker to My name is Saya Mellie and I'm just gonna tell you a little story about when I was young 10 years ago when I was Seven or eight years old If you would ask me what color is the sky I would have told you with absolute conviction that it was great That was my reality growing up in Chevron and one of the most polluted cities in the world My school was canceled day after day because of extreme pollution because it was too toxic for Middle school kids to go to school So one day my mom decided to convince me the sky was it great and so she took my family on a hike younger brother and I put on our hiking shoes Grab a water bottle We got on the trail was dusty and dry every time we took a step that doesn't just go in her eyes. I mean kinda blink it out. It was hard It was hard for us to climb that mountain but when we got to Top when I got to the summit, I look out and I saw this canvas of gray covering the city And then I woke up and it was blue and there White clouds just like this and I remember thinking why why do I have to climb a mountain to see the sky Here's our reality has to be great Why do kids have to climb to Green clean air Put in a run It's dangerous to be an activist It's dangerous to make change and even threaten your life so I didn't see myself taking action there To when I step off the plane in Boston and Logan Airport I looked up and I saw this guy. I knew I had to fight and I knew that in the us it was different We have democracy here and we have to fight to keep it Continue to stand up for that message Freedom of speech For democracy next, what's different and that's what's going to save us Thank you all of you today for coming out here with every single one of you every single voice How we can make sure that we can make this blue sky a reality for everyone because my presents my family, my grandparents They are still greening in that same toxic, dangerous air And so many people in the US but people living in Detroit Whoo Look at communities for communities They are still breathing in that And we have to make that difference It's our responsibility to make that difference To make sure that we can have a climate to think so every single American can know which candidate is actually going to stand up for the people of America and not the fossil fuels happening Thank you so stories always amazing so yeah we just gonna join together and start again this one We need Justice cuz what do we need bills like we need Justice We need Justice Testis Justice What do you want What do we want when do we want it now Yes it's a beautiful morning today We are here and we come from different spaces and places. We've come from different walks of life and we're here United saying we need a change And we will continue to advocate until change happens I read somewhere that when people come together with the power of people when people come together, there is power and when people come together systemic and radical change can happen We can look at the civil rights movement and we can look at the various actors that came together Martin King Doctor King Rabbi Shoe we see in we see the Urban League coming together and critiquing the current structures that were in place in America We're here today to critique the current structures of inequality of injustice of climate injustice in America You to lift our voices to the heavens. We will continue to lift our voices in March and solidarity until the D C understands that this is our interconnected and real issue Won't be silent We won't be complacent We will not sit on the seat of. Do nothing What's To advocate and educate and somewhere I read that the injury just injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere That change never holding on the wheels of inevitability but only come when people of good will come together We're sending a message to the T that Massachusetts will not be silent that Massachusetts will not be complacent that Massachusetts will not just sit on the sideline but we will raise our voice and citizens of black folks as White folks as agent books as folks from all across the Rainbow, we will lift up our voice people of goodwill because come together and say that enough is enough Society is under attack public education is under attack black and Brown bodies under a chance to say enough is enough When do we want it now What do we want when we want it Thank you very much Good job Good job