Name: Harvey F. Mollison

Social Justice Group: Global Warming (A)

Date of Fieldwork: February 4, 2025

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Keanu Arples-Josiah

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:

We spoke with Keanu Arples-Josiah, a former LREI student and climate activist who works for Fridays for the Future. We learned about how important it is to get the word out about climate change. He talked about how important it is going to be to act and push for a better future. He also said that it was very important to find common ground with people who do not believe in the climate change crisis. This point was very important as there are many instances of racism and socio-economic strategies to put fossil fuel plants and refineries close to these so-called “undesirable” real estate locations.

He was very vocal about how important it was to remember that there is still hope for the future. A lot of people just covered their eyes and tried to ignore it. However, this is the worst thing to do as it is just opening the door for people that deny climate change. In other words, if the only thing being said is a lie, it will only be a matter of time before it becomes the truth. It is important to get out there and be vocal about this issue because that is the only way progress can be made.

Our president, the people that control the things we buy everyday, and many more, are vocal deniers of this enormous issue. The overlying factor is, there are many people with money, wealth, and power, that are going to fight against everything that needs to be done. This could include misinformation propagated by oil companies such as the so called “carbon footprint,” which in fact, is targeted to glaze over the massive effect that oil has on the climate, or the widespread belief that climate change is just a hoax, they both share that same opinion.