Interview with Dulce Arias
ICYMI, today is Earth Day. So Editorial Team member Jade Cornet chatted with climate activist and college student Dulce Arias to get all the deets on Youth Vs. Apocalypse, growing up undocumented, and creating change. Read on to be crazy inspired.
You are part of the Youth Vs. Apocalypse activist group. How did you get interested in climate change topics and how were you able to kickstart the conversation about climate change in your community?
In high school for the sake of me not dropping out of school or failing school, I joined the Green Academy my sophomore year. The program coordinator, who was also a teacher of the Green Academy, promised me to help me get on track to graduating high school, and so I joined.
What it is, is a program within the school that would require you to take green-based CTE classes, helped with career search and college apps, and connected you with someone in the field you are interested in majoring in the future. Through the green-based elective classes which the GA (Green Academy) required you to take, I learned so much about the environment. But one of the topics that mainly stuck with me was climate change. I learned the effects of it and the causes. The more research I did about it, the more angry I would get, the more afraid and the more disappointed I became. Especially because there are those who profit from the destruction of our planet and our people. I became frustrated with the fact that those currently affected the most by climate change are marginalized communities and that those empowered have known the effects of climate change and yet they do not take the action that's needed to literally save the world that we all live on. It bothered me that those less responsible for the climate crisis are suffering the most.
My climate anxieties grew and it got so bad to a point where I could not go to school anymore and I missed every other day. I couldn’t sleep at night just thinking and thinking of what I should do as an individual to help stop the climate crisis. I needed to tell the whole world what was going on but I didn’t know how or if it was even my place to do so. Until one day my senior year of high school, my class went on a field trip to go watch a “green film." We watched the Youth v Gov film, about youth suing the US government for contributing to the climate crisis they will inherit. I followed their case on social media.
One day I was watching a live stream of a panel with youth plaintiffs from the Juliana Vs Government lawsuit and other climate groups. And I also liked what the other climate groups had to say. One of them was 350, they mentioned the work on climate and migrant justice, so I googled them and come to find out that they have a 350 Bay Area chapter. I went to their website and learned a bit more of Youth vs Apocalypse, the work that they did and applied to the fellowship they had going on. My intentions of joining were to help support climate activists in Youth Vs. Apocalypse and do anything in my capacity so that they succeeded in the work that they were doing. Shortly after I got deeply involved, and got labeled as an activist.
I guess how I helped kick start the conversation about climate change in my community was by social media posts. I would post things on my social media about climate change and climate justice, and what was going on around the world. Which helped my peers and I talk about these subjects on a regular basis. Then when I was already involved with YVA I started promoting the national climate strike that happened on March 15, which YVA was taking the lead on. I did class presentations on climate change and as I was passing flyers around, I had conversations with people about the climate crisis and made new connections. I’m currently working on getting more of my community involved with climate justice by having a Resiliency Village.
What has it been like organizing events to raise awareness for climate change?
Growing up undocumented and actively knowing this made me feel like my voice didn’t matter, that I did not belong in this country, therefore I should step back from anything political. Organizing has helped me uncover the power that my voice and I as a person holds.
How would you encourage young people who don’t know how to kickstart the talk around climate change to get started? And why do you deem it important?
I will just say to them to talk about it with their educators, family, and friends. Starting conversations about a problem can lead to solutions.
How do you feel when you see all these politicians not doing much for climate change issues? How and why do you think young people today can change the game?
When I see politicians not doing much about climate change issues I cannot help but judge them. How can they be so foolish? How can they go about their day knowing that they are harming other people? Why are they not protecting the people they govern? Who says their life and their wealth are more important than the lives of my peers and our future?? I think that my generation will change the game by showing up. Showing up to the poll, showing up to climate and social justice action, showing up for our people.
You are also an undocumented college student. Why do you think it is important for young people of color to take control of their narrative when it comes to media?
Being an undocumented college student with undocumented parents has its challenges. The pressure I have to succeed in college is extremely high with a low amount of resources. I am one amongst a small percentage of the Hispanic and Latinx community who even makes it to college and that is only because the current system was not made for people like us, so we have to try extra hard.
What are some challenges you have to overcome as an undocumented college student? And how are you able to juggle between your studies and your fight for climate change and migrant rights?
Being an organizer comes with many Zoom, phone, and in person meetings. Every day is different and new things come along, so I have yet to find a way to better manage my time.It is definitely very hard to juggle between my studies and my fight for climate justice because I battle between my priorities. I can’t afford to fail in school but at the same time I can’t step out and do nothing for those already being affected by climate change. I’m stressing all the time, and at times I feel like I should step out of either organizing or school, but then I remember who I do what I do for and come back to my senses and remind myself that hard work pays off. And as my parents who migrated to this country and brought me here so that I can have a chance to have a good future, I will do the same for my future children. Which means fighting this climate crisis and all the injustices in the world so that my kids won’t go through what I go through.
What advice would you give to our readers looking to change their community for the better and get involved in the fight against Climate Change?
SHOW UP!! (show up to meetings regarding climate justice, show up to places where your voice is needed in the conversation, show up to actions, organizer calls, town halls, school board meetings, climate and environmental events, show up to support other social justice organizations because you can’t win one cause without the other, show up for those who can’t, show up and start from there.)
In high school for the sake of me not dropping out of school or failing school, I joined the Green Academy my sophomore year. The program coordinator, who was also a teacher of the Green Academy, promised me to help me get on track to graduating high school, and so I joined.
What it is, is a program within the school that would require you to take green-based CTE classes, helped with career search and college apps, and connected you with someone in the field you are interested in majoring in the future. Through the green-based elective classes which the GA (Green Academy) required you to take, I learned so much about the environment. But one of the topics that mainly stuck with me was climate change. I learned the effects of it and the causes. The more research I did about it, the more angry I would get, the more afraid and the more disappointed I became. Especially because there are those who profit from the destruction of our planet and our people. I became frustrated with the fact that those currently affected the most by climate change are marginalized communities and that those empowered have known the effects of climate change and yet they do not take the action that's needed to literally save the world that we all live on. It bothered me that those less responsible for the climate crisis are suffering the most.
My climate anxieties grew and it got so bad to a point where I could not go to school anymore and I missed every other day. I couldn’t sleep at night just thinking and thinking of what I should do as an individual to help stop the climate crisis. I needed to tell the whole world what was going on but I didn’t know how or if it was even my place to do so. Until one day my senior year of high school, my class went on a field trip to go watch a “green film." We watched the Youth v Gov film, about youth suing the US government for contributing to the climate crisis they will inherit. I followed their case on social media.
One day I was watching a live stream of a panel with youth plaintiffs from the Juliana Vs Government lawsuit and other climate groups. And I also liked what the other climate groups had to say. One of them was 350, they mentioned the work on climate and migrant justice, so I googled them and come to find out that they have a 350 Bay Area chapter. I went to their website and learned a bit more of Youth vs Apocalypse, the work that they did and applied to the fellowship they had going on. My intentions of joining were to help support climate activists in Youth Vs. Apocalypse and do anything in my capacity so that they succeeded in the work that they were doing. Shortly after I got deeply involved, and got labeled as an activist.
I guess how I helped kick start the conversation about climate change in my community was by social media posts. I would post things on my social media about climate change and climate justice, and what was going on around the world. Which helped my peers and I talk about these subjects on a regular basis. Then when I was already involved with YVA I started promoting the national climate strike that happened on March 15, which YVA was taking the lead on. I did class presentations on climate change and as I was passing flyers around, I had conversations with people about the climate crisis and made new connections. I’m currently working on getting more of my community involved with climate justice by having a Resiliency Village.
What has it been like organizing events to raise awareness for climate change?
Growing up undocumented and actively knowing this made me feel like my voice didn’t matter, that I did not belong in this country, therefore I should step back from anything political. Organizing has helped me uncover the power that my voice and I as a person holds.
How would you encourage young people who don’t know how to kickstart the talk around climate change to get started? And why do you deem it important?
I will just say to them to talk about it with their educators, family, and friends. Starting conversations about a problem can lead to solutions.
How do you feel when you see all these politicians not doing much for climate change issues? How and why do you think young people today can change the game?
When I see politicians not doing much about climate change issues I cannot help but judge them. How can they be so foolish? How can they go about their day knowing that they are harming other people? Why are they not protecting the people they govern? Who says their life and their wealth are more important than the lives of my peers and our future?? I think that my generation will change the game by showing up. Showing up to the poll, showing up to climate and social justice action, showing up for our people.
You are also an undocumented college student. Why do you think it is important for young people of color to take control of their narrative when it comes to media?
Being an undocumented college student with undocumented parents has its challenges. The pressure I have to succeed in college is extremely high with a low amount of resources. I am one amongst a small percentage of the Hispanic and Latinx community who even makes it to college and that is only because the current system was not made for people like us, so we have to try extra hard.
What are some challenges you have to overcome as an undocumented college student? And how are you able to juggle between your studies and your fight for climate change and migrant rights?
Being an organizer comes with many Zoom, phone, and in person meetings. Every day is different and new things come along, so I have yet to find a way to better manage my time.It is definitely very hard to juggle between my studies and my fight for climate justice because I battle between my priorities. I can’t afford to fail in school but at the same time I can’t step out and do nothing for those already being affected by climate change. I’m stressing all the time, and at times I feel like I should step out of either organizing or school, but then I remember who I do what I do for and come back to my senses and remind myself that hard work pays off. And as my parents who migrated to this country and brought me here so that I can have a chance to have a good future, I will do the same for my future children. Which means fighting this climate crisis and all the injustices in the world so that my kids won’t go through what I go through.
What advice would you give to our readers looking to change their community for the better and get involved in the fight against Climate Change?
SHOW UP!! (show up to meetings regarding climate justice, show up to places where your voice is needed in the conversation, show up to actions, organizer calls, town halls, school board meetings, climate and environmental events, show up to support other social justice organizations because you can’t win one cause without the other, show up for those who can’t, show up and start from there.)