The photo-cropping experience also made it crucial that the national and international media move beyond the chosen handful of climate activists theyвЂ™d usually featured. It shouldnвЂ™t be like this! /PR544GIv7g- Vanessa Nakate January 25, 2020 Those of us who had no ability to escape the climate crisis, because it was on our doorstep, had to haunt them: to force them to understand that the consequences of their decisions werenвЂ™t abstract or insignificant, but in real time and in real life were harming someone, somewhere.Д®veryone saying that I should position myself in the middle is wrong!Дoes an African activist have to stand in the middle just because of fear of being cropped out? It seemed to me that too many leaders were in environments where they were sheltered from the effects of their decision-making. It was clear to me many more of us needed to make ourselves visible and speak out so leaders would have to listen to us, whether they were in the Global North or South. But the photo-cropping made me even more determined to support and spotlight African activism, as well as young people throughout the Global South: mainly, but not solely, women. Youth need to step up and step in, and demand a secure future.вЂќД®ven before my experience of being cropped out of the photo at Davos, IвЂ™d noticed the lack of visibility or presence in the global climate movement of people from Africa.

вЂњWe canвЂ™t wait for money to step into this room for climate justice. вЂњWe need to work together as Africans, because if we donвЂ™t step up and we continue to see ourselves as вЂbackstage,вЂ™ then weвЂ™re not going to succeed,вЂќ is how Adenike Oladosu puts it. Rise Up recognizes that communication and coordination are essential. It also serves as an umbrella group for climate activists in Uganda and across Africa. Rise Up is organized in Uganda by Evelyn Acham, Davis Reuben Sekamwa, Edwin Namakanga, Isaac Ssentumbwe, Nyombi Morris, Joshua Omonuk, my cousin Isabella, who joined me at the first strike, and my sisters Clare and Joan. This became the Rise Up Movement, which launched its social media platform in January 2020. The need for greater climate justice representation among African activists and my wish to attract more of my peers to the movement pushed me to found Youth for Future.

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