Over the next few months, we will be posting four exerpts from “Existing Within and Between: A Script on Climate Action & Intersectionality.” This script uses a play format to creatively explore the state of the intersectionality conversation in the climate justice community of practice. It was written with the support of CJRF, in collaboration with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (Climate Centre).
The script format was chosen to provide an engaging report that encourages further discussions rooted in candor, vulnerability, and honesty. While the characters presented below are real people, some fictional liberties were taken in the script.
Lastly, this script is not intended to be prescriptive in any way, but to rather offer thought provoking perspectives and serve as a platform for others to examine their own scripts around intersectionality.
THE PLOT
A diverse group of individuals has been assembled around a writing room table. Their task? Writing a play centered around the state of intersectional approaches within the broad climate justice space that offers a clear path forward. As the play-within-a-play advances, the cast tries to overcome obstacles that stand in their way of crafting a story that sparks empathy. Will they succeed in building power and opportunity with those at the frontlines of the climate crisis?
Tip: The cartoons at the start of each scene play the role of the chorus like that of the ancient Greek drama tradition, serving as commentary alongside the main action as the story advances.
CAST
The cast represent individuals from funding, practitioner, activist, researcher, and other professional and/or personal communities:
Ana Gonzalez Guerrero – Co-Founder of the Youth Climate Lab.
Anna McCarthy - Junior Researcher at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.
Asfia Gulrukh - Assistant Professor, Aboriginal and Northern Studies, University College of the North.
Aminul Hoque - Working as the Director of Monitoring & Evaluation with COAST Trust, Bangladesh.
Carlos Martín - On a housing research journey with detours in disasters, climate, energy, and cities.
Catalina Jaime - Climate and Conflict Manager with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, PhD researcher University of Twente in Anticipatory Action in Armed Conflict.
Coast Trust - Coastal Association for Social Transformation Trust was founded in 1998. COAST has established herself as an independent organization working on human rights and advocacy for economic and climate justice for the climate vulnerable coastal population in Bangladesh.
Fernanda Diaz-Osorio - Research Assistant with a demonstrated history of working in higher education. I am a keen (un)learner interested in working towards more sustainable Food Systems. I dream of making education more accessible for Latin American children.
Georgina Cundill Kemp - Senior Program Specialist at International Development Research Centre (IDRC), working to put climate change adaptation research into policy and practice across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Heather McGray - Director, Climate Justice Resilience Fund
Hilary Heath - Program Associate, Climate Justice Resilience Fund
Joshua Amponsem - An environmental and climate activist, the founder of Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO), and a Youth Fellow at the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA).
Kenny Go - Currently working on a BSc in Global Resource Systems at the University of British Columbia, and interested in exploring new ways to improve food distribution systems.
Kisilu Musya - A farmer and the main character in the film documentary Thank you for the rain.
Maya Winklestein - Chief Executive Officer of Open Road Alliance. A career professional in the impact sector, she is committed to achieving leveraged impact through an investment model of philanthropy.
Meghan Bailey - Senior Technical Advisor at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.
Tracy Kajumba - Principal Researcher, Climate Change Group - International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED), she is focused on strengthening partnerships under the climate change group.
Tracy Mann - Brazilianist, International Communications and Partnership Strategies. Co-Founder of MG Limited and serving as a pro bono director for Climate Wise Women, a global platform for women’s leadership on climate change.
Youth Climate Lab team - a diverse group of young, radical collaborators working together to ensure young folks around the globe are empowered to catalyze transformative climate action to achieve a more just, climate-resilient world. Within this script the team’s collective comments are labeled “Anita” or “Juan” for flow.
SCENE ONE (OF FOUR): INTERSECTIONALITY
SETTING
Dramatically lit room with big table, many papers, large projector screen as a backdrop.
It is the first convening of the group. The characters come in one by one, two by two. Some may be feeling out of place, unsure, look around seeking comfort, reassurance. Others may come in looking wearier, perhaps wondering whether this will be another instance of their person or experience being tokenized. Some are comfortable and create a sense of ease that seems to radiate out to others. The audience is able to pick up some snippets of the conversation, but there is no central dialogue. The group gets their coffee and settles into chairs, some on sofas, a couple from the floor.
Projected chorus:
REBEKA
Hello everyone - So happy to have you here. Let’s start this first session sharing professional or personal experiences and definitions around the term “intersectionality”. What does it mean to you? Has it been part of your lived experience? How did you first come by it?
JOSHUA
Well… Among the youth climate movement in Africa, intersectionality is very minimal.
MEGHAN
In my experience as well… working in the climate and social protection space the vulnerability conversation is often stuck around very broad and inaccurate definitions of gender. But then again, this one time an important Nepalese partner accused me of having too simplified a view of intersectionality, so I still have work to do!
JOSHUA
I’ve found that there’s actually a lack of understanding of the root causes of the issues youth advocate for: Many youth activists advocate based on prominent headlines - "women are vulnerable” and this becomes a binary view for activism. Similar to responsible institutions (ministries, etc.), intersectionality only plays a role when it contributes to the public image of the institution, but not because there is a clear understanding of the benefits of engaging diverse social identities and topics.
TRACY K.
You know, on the note of vulnerability, I’ve found that perceptions of vulnerability and poverty are different within the development community and within the communities they serve. Often the people who show up - to meetings, convenings, etc. – are not the participants those organizations are actually needing to engage with the most. Essentially, when organizations are in communities, assumptions of who is the most vulnerable are sometimes inaccurate. For example, when the community members are asked who the most vulnerable members of their society are, they note that those members don't attend meetings - because they lack the confidence, they feel (or are told) they are not presentable enough to join public events, they have no homes, no land, no possessions -
[Pauses for dramatic effect]
- basically, they feel they have no business being in these meetings and convenings. The community must be the one who defines and guides the identification of “vulnerability” - they know and see what we cannot.
FERNANDA
For me personally, intersectionality is how people/society defines me. I live in Canada, but I was born and raised in Mexico. How people define me sometimes changes depending on my location. In Canada, I am a Latino immigrant, while in Mexico, I am privileged and light-skinned.
CATALINA
Intersectionality in relation to what I do is to have an understanding that risks do not just happen in isolation by single and simple causes, but that they can be the product of history and the present moment, of decisions taken by individuals (mostly in power) that have created class, racial and gender dynamics. These circumstances can lead to a lack of education and opportunities, increased corruption, and disadvantages for certain communities, making them more at risk to be affected by climate shocks.
ANA
The intersections of our identities allow us to experience and move through the world differently, in positive or negative ways. Intersectionality can determine how we are affected and differently treated in our community, home, work, and in society. Even though it was originally developed out of a legal context -
GEORGINA
It originally came from Kimberle Crenshaw over 30 years ago, but only recently went viral -
ANA
Yes - and even with that background, the principle of intersectionality can be applied to the environmental movement as well. For instance, where I live, it is clear that low-income communities of color live in neighborhoods near polluted environments, have less access to financial resources that equip them to source less energy-intensive food sources, and to access the opportunities to participate in climate policymaking. Conversely, currently living in a university town, where the demographic is primarily higher income and white, most residents breathe clean air and work for prominent climate and conservation organizations and research institutes within the university. Here, the intersection between income, race, and residential zones is part of how folks are differently affected by climate change, and how we adapt to it differently.
GEORGINA
Intersectionality needs a reframe. It shouldn’t be seen as something to fear. It does not make us [all of us, everyone] vulnerable. It can give us power.
ASFIA
… If I may, I also think a part of it is figuring out the practice of agency. Focusing the narrative only on vulnerability is related to colonialism. For example, after spending time developing a relationship with a group of elders, I was invited to the community to spend more time with them. What is maybe unexpected is that this time healed me. I healed myself by staying there, with them, they helped heal me…
[Lights dim]
Stay tuned for Scene Two in November!