Pelosi’s 20 long years
 November 17, 2022 Dear Meteor readers, Last Saturday, we gathered together for Meet the Moment. It was such a privilege to share space with leaders in the worlds of reproductive care, climate change, the Iranian feminist movement—and many of you! Plus music, art, and even some comedy. I had tingles all over my body when Tarana Burke took to the stage to discuss survivorhood with her child Kaia Naadira, actor Anthony Rapp, writer Chanel Miller and moderator Dr. Salamishah Tillet. “We don’t heal alone,” Burke  If you weren’t able to join us in Brooklyn, no worries! In today’s newsletter, we’re giving all the deets on one of my favorite talks of the day: a conversation with climate activists Thanu Yakupitiyage and Jamie Margolin. But first, this week’s news from my colleague Bailey Wayne Hundl. Let’s get into it. Eagerly meeting all the moments, Shannon Melero  WHAT’S GOING ONEnd of an era: Nancy Pelosi has just announced that she will be stepping down from her role as Speaker of the House. Not only was she the first woman ever in the House’s highest-ranking and most powerful role, but she held that job for two whole decades—an era which, especially recently, has not been easy for visible political leaders. (Consider the recent assassination attempt on her husband: The attacker was yelling “Where is Nancy?”—just as the January 6 insurrectionists did when they chanted “Naaaancy, oh Naaaancy.”) As she passed the torch to the next generation today—including her likely successor, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)—she said, “I look forward to the unfolding story of our nation, a story of light and love, of patriotism and progress, of many becoming one. And always, an unfinished mission to make the dreams of today the reality of tomorrow.” “Don’t expect much of anything”: As you may recall, exactly nine days ago, young people went to the polls at near-record levels—many motivated by the recent death of Roe v. Wade. So you might be surprised to hear that when President Biden was asked Monday what Americans should expect Congress to do on abortion after the midterms, he responded: “I don’t think they can expect much of anything.” Inspiring, right? Biden’s point may have been that Republicans will soon take control of the House (which, unfortunately, was correct), but there are still things Congress can do—and should. As abortion rights activist Renee Bracey Sherman has pointed out, Democrats could still abolish the filibuster or reverse the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funds from being used for abortions. But it has to happen in the next two months before the anti-abortion party takes charge of the House. In other words: Stop saying there’s nothing we can do, Joe, and let’s do the things we can! Ticketmaster tanks: A moment of silence for the Swifties, please. On Tuesday, presale tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour went live on More deaths in Iran: The violence against Iranian citizens protesting in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death continues to escalate. On Wednesday evening at a protest in Izeh, seven people were killed by gunmen, including two children. The youngest was nine-year-old Kian Pirfalak, who was on his way home with his family at the time. State authorities have claimed this was a terrorist attack, but sources close to Pirfalak’s family claim the boy was targeted by Iranian security forces. This news comes on the heels of an increase in death sentences for detained protestors. AND:
 MEET THE MOMENT We’re Already Living In the Climate DisasterBut this insight from climate activists is keeping me goingBY SHANNON MELERO  THANU YAKUPITIYAGE AND JAMIE MARGOLIN TALKING CLIMATE ON THE MEET THE MOMENT STAGE LAST WEEKEND. (IMAGE BY CRAIG BARRITT VIA GETTY IMAGES) Anyone who has interacted with me knows that I simply do not go to Brooklyn. (Sorry, BK readers; it’s not personal.) I am originally from the Bronx, so culturally (as well as MTA-illy) Brooklyn is on a different planet. But as I spent this last Saturday sitting in the Brooklyn Museum, listening while leaders and champions of gender justice bathed me in their knowledge, there was one moment in particular that made me say, “This is what I’ll be thinking about the entire ride home.” And sure enough, I spent the entire commute back thinking about Jamie Margolin, who spoke on the youth-led climate movement and where we are in our current crisis. “I’m not even gonna lie to y’all,” she said, “It’s already too late to stop climate disaster because it’s already here. People are already dying and it’s very insulting to people who have already lost everything to be like, ‘Someday, climate change is gonna happen.’”  During the conversation, Margolin’s co-panelist Thanu Yakupitiyage asked her why we’re seeing such a significant youth presence in the climate movement. Why are activists like Greta Thunberg, Xiye Bastida, Margolin, and others the most visible climate advocates? Margolin responded with a view I’d never heard: It isn’t just that younger generations have the most to lose as this disaster progresses; it’s that society (and media) are so obsessed with youth that the elders on the frontlines who started this movement simply get ignored. “The elders are standing right there with us,” but get pushed out of the frame, she says. And when they’re not ignored, they’re used as scapegoats for why the climate crisis is so bad in the first place. As an example, Margolin mentioned her grandmother, who doesn’t label herself a climate activist but taught Margolin everything she knows about caring for the land. This struck a deep chord with me personally, especially when Margolin called her grandmother a “campesina,” a phrase I’ve heard in my own household. (Depending on the dialect of Spanish you use, the literal translation can mean a few different things, but it generally refers to a woman who lives off of the land, or a farmer.) I am a descendant of a long line of sugarcane and tobacco farmers. My grandmother didn’t just have a green thumb; she had an entirely green upper body. She could bring back to life any plant in any condition. My family had a deep understanding of caring for the land long before I came to read about it on Instagram. And before I ever heard the word upcycle, my grandmother (maybe yours too?) was reusing old cookie and cracker tins as storage containers for anything and everything under the sun. Why buy brand new Tupperware when you can put leftover food in a cleaned out tub of Country Crock? The climate movement is in my blood and the blood of so many people of color—and we may not have even known it.  JAMIE AND THANU BACK WHEN THEY WERE (EVEN) YOUNGER CLIMATE ACTIVISTS. (IMAGE COURTESY OF PANELISTS) I felt this buried connection sparked anew as Margolin spoke about our ancestors paving the way for the modern climate movement. It provided me with newfound awe and respect for them. How did we veer so far off the path of our elders, specifically those with indigenous roots and ties to the land, that we now find ourselves trying to put out a planet-wide fire with paper straws? Margolin’s answer: colonialism (which destroys native lands and land-caring traditions by eliminating entire cultures) and capitalism—two concepts that are at the forefront of my mind as we approach one of the largest food-waste holidays in America. It would be so easy to dip further into climate despair as we hurtle toward the end of the year, with its holiday waste, extreme weather, and climate-fueled immigration. But Jamie Margolin and Thanu Yakupitiyage don’t feel hopeless, and they shared that warrior energy with every person in the room. “Everyone thinks activism only means being out on the street protesting, but there are other ways to engage your community,” Margolin explained. She and Yakupitiyage delved into how we can use our own skills as individuals—whether we’re writers, artists, or office workers—to “target the big fish.” They also put an emphasis on the fact that there’s still time to turn our attention away from individual blame and direct it at corporations for their outsized role in filling the ocean with microplastics. There’s still time to quit fast fashion, to learn a little of what your grandparents might have known, to push your professional and personal communities to do more. There’s still time to vote for political leaders who believe in immigration policies that take into account climate refugees—and who don’t think shipping them away on a bus to the Vice President’s house is an appropriate response. While there is breath in our bodies, there’s still time to make sure the Generation Alpha isn’t spending their entire youth fighting the same fights as Gen Z. Confused on how to meet this particular climate moment? Let the youth point the way.
 Shannon Melero is a Bronx-born writer on a mission to establish borough supremacy. She covers pop culture, religion, and sports as one of feminism’s final frontiers.  PRESENTED BY  FOLLOW THE METEOR    Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? Sign up for your own copy, sent Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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