Audience: Indigenous Peoples

We are excited to share with you all the work of Amanecer People’s Project, the first of our 2024 Climate Justice Micrograntees to be profiled this year. Based in El Paso, TX, Amanecer works to build community power in support of policies that “prioritize our health, environmental integrity, racial and economic equity, restore democratic power, and work towards destabilizing the systems of power that produce climate injustice.”

I have been recently reflecting about my move back to the place I grew up – the Bay Area. I can’t help but think about the local impacts I have been seeing since years of many destructive wildfires. Witnessing the aftermath of these wildfires brought the reality of climate displacement closer to home, more than ever.
Our world is grappling with the escalating challenge of climate-induced migration and displacement, which is expected to affect millions in the coming decades. Enacting meaningful solutions will require effective communication strategies, especially as media attention on climate migration and its impact intensifies. This week’s newsletter explores communication strategies and shares some of the latest resources regarding communicating about climate migration and special highlight on communicating the complexity of displacement.

Last week, we saw breaking news on August 8th describing what is now being called “the deadliest wildfire in over a century” in Maui, HI (the traditional territories of the Nā moku ʻehā). With families still being reunited, people still missing, and a cause yet to be determined, the dire situation is still unfolding as the aftermath of this event continues to be discovered. Many local residents, Indigenous folks, and climate activists who have long warned of such an event, have taken to social media to ask for support, offer resources, and give their understanding of why a fire that was so devastating, occurred in an area that has not been prone to wildfires.