This is the sixth week of a series on this blog where I interview other climate and environmental activists. I hope these interviews help connect climate activists around the world, boost the good work they're doing, and give potential activists ideas and encouragement for action they could take to fight the climate crisis!
Today's interviewee is Sophia Geiger, weekly climate striker and organizer with Fridays For Future USA. You can follow her on Twitter at @sphiamia.
I’m from right outside DC in Silver Spring MD [Maryland, USA]. I’m 17 in 11th grade at Northwood High School. I’m a weekly striker, climate activist and organizer with Fridays for Future USA and our local chapter Fridays for Future DC. This basically amounts to spending my Fridays silent striking in school and then hitting the streets (or sidewalks as it were) with my friends, and spending the rest of the week organizing through sending emails, hours on conference calls, and lots and lots of slack messages. I also run the instagram for FFFUSA (@fridaysforfutureusa), the instagram for our silent strike campaign (@fffsilentstrike), the twitter for the silent strike campaign (@fffsilent), the twitter for FFFDC (@fridaysfuturedc) and I help run the instagram for FFFDC (@fridaysforfuture.dc). As you can probably tell I don’t have time for much outside of all that, and school on top of that, as well as trying my best to still be a teenager (chores, friends, etc.).
How did you get into climate activism?
I had been looking for a way to get involved for a while. I’ve always known about the climate crisis but until the 2018 IPCC report I, and I think a lot of other people, had no idea, or didn’t want to really understand the reality of its severity. One of my friends became active and I got involved through her, and within a few months my life had totally changed.
What's your role with FFF USA?
The thing that makes FFF and FFFUSA specifically really unique is that unlike a lot of other climate groups we are not an organization, we are a movement. This means that although we have a structure with working groups and an email, social media etc, we don’t have a bank account or paid staff or titles or a lot of the things people might expect from us. Our movement’s focus is distributed, consistent action so our structure is very decentralized. We also are very committed to building a community with as much of a lack of hierarchy as possible so we mainly have two levels, local and national. On the local level they have a lot of freedom and autonomy, and on the national level we are a community, open to anyone who wants to participate in whatever capacity they can. I’m one of the more involved people, and I’ve been around since a few months after FFFUSA’s start in December of 2018 when Zayne Cowie in NYC and Kallan Benson in DC started striking.
What are some highlights of what you’ve done so far?
March 15th was my first deep strike [when many countries strike together], so that was definitely a landmark point for me, as well as a moment to learn a lot from and apply to future deep strikes. On September 13th we struck with Greta, and I got to meet her and talk to her which was super crazy for me. September 20th was also a huge deep strike, even bigger than March 15th. For the 20th I participated in months of planning and work on national, local and international levels, and had many setbacks and frustrations, so it was amazing to see all that work culminate with thousands of people mobilized in DC and millions world wide. There was a moment on the 20th when me and Kallan were leading the march toward the Capitol and we looked back and could see for the first time how big the crowd was with people still flowing out of John Marshall Park. That was one of the most memorable moments for me because we had been striking for months with our actions turning out anywhere from 2 to 30 people so it was incredible and shocking to see such a huge crowd.
Have you found community with other environmental activists?
The FFFUSA community is an incredible group to be a part of. More than any other group I’ve been with I really feel like the people in FFFUSA are dedicated to the cause and each other. Like any group and especially any group of teenagers collaboration is tough, especially when so much of what we do needs to be based in trust and most of us have never met in person. But I think we are really building a community that is committed to changing the world and being set up in a way that works for the people in it and that’s beautiful to see. We also have an awesome community internationally with so many kind, inspiring activists and that too I feel so lucky to be a part of. It’s amazing to walk out the door Friday morning knowing that thousands of other activists are also walking out their doors that day to strike for climate justice, and to stand alongside people who take the climate crisis as seriously as I do.
Tell me about the holiday cards project.
That was a project with a few main goals: help bring the community together and mobilize people to take action, use the proximity of our DC chapter to amplify voices around the country, and give our movement more presence on Capitol Hill, and I think we accomplished all of those. We wanted to have people around the country write a message to their Congress people, which the DC chapter would then hand deliver to Congress. We think hand delivering makes them that little bit more impactful and was also a chance for us to be in Congressional offices, talking to the aides, making our movement more visible. We also sang Christmas carols but with altered lyrics to talk about the climate crisis which definitely made us more memorable to the offices. It was also somewhat of an experiment in how well this kind of action would work and whether people would be into it, and I think it went really well. I personally made cards for and wrote out the around 100 responses we got from our online form, so this project has a special place in my heart and is something we are thinking about doing again for Valentine's Day.
What have you learned through your activism?
Being a climate activist has taught me so much about myself, about interpersonal relationships, about the human psyche, about our political and societal structure and its many flaws, among other things. Although I still have a long way to go as a person I think the past year has made me more empathetic, more willing and able to critically examine myself and the world around me, more appreciative of the work that I and others can do and more understanding of the immense impact that pure people power can have.
What are your goals for 2020 for climate action in the US?
In 2020 I hope the climate movement will better strengthen its collaboration between the different groups involved and be able to create a more united front. I hope FFF will become more diverse and better able to support and work for the actions and needs of frontline and marginalized communities. I hope that we will become even more connected globally. I hope that we will elect a president with a focus on climate action and put in place legislation that will move us into a just transition to a greener America and world as a whole. I hope that our society will wake up and start making the changes that it needs to, from reducing consumerism and individualistic mindsets to starting to address this crisis on a united level similar to how we came together around wars in the past. I hope that we will see leadership from frontline communities and scientists in how best to address the crisis and provide solutions for it.
What’s something or someone you think more people should know about?
More people need to understand the reality of the crisis and the need to mobilize. Australia has shown us that even in the face of real and severe danger to lives and ecosystems, world leaders will dig themselves deeper into lies and denial and continue to fuel the literal fires of the climate crisis. We cannot expect change simply from asking for it, or hoping that they will do the right thing, we must demand the world that we deserve. We will not see change with the scale and urgency needed until we have millions in the streets and organizing and thinking about and prioritizing the climate crisis. In the face of this threat not much else matters.
What frustrates you?
I see a lot of opportunities for collaboration within the climate movement and ways that our actions could be even better and stronger. Unfortunately a lot of times egos and personalities get in the way. We are definitely making progress and friction is a part of working together—it’s just frustrating to see all that could be possible and that I want to be possible not come to fruition because of the complexities of movement politics.
What gives you hope and keeps you going?
The amazing people I see fighting alongside me as well as a fair amount of naive optimism. I can’t allow myself to believe for a second that we will not succeed, that things will not get better, that we will not create the world we are fighting so hard for. I’m just committed to giving this cause everything I have for the people and animals and life forms of the world, and those still to come. In my mind, there’s no other option.
How can people join or support your activism?
Follow us on social media. Come out on Fridays. If you can’t take to the streets then silent strike or digital strike. You can always do something. Go to fridaysforfututureusa.org to find a strike near you or to start organizing with us, everyone is welcome, everyone is needed. Spread the word. Do some research, read the reports. Make the climate crisis a priority in all decision making you do whether that’s the choices you make in what to buy, where to travel, how you are going to spend your Friday, etc.
Do you have any advice for fellow or potential climate activists?
Join FFF. We love you and we need you and there is always work to be done. Straight A’s or a good college won’t matter on a dead planet. Listen to the scientists and the voices of frontline communities. Start a strike near you. It’s really as easy as grabbing a sign and finding a street corner, no excessive planning needed. Make sure to let FFFUSA know you want to strike by sending us an email or DM so we can support you. Your voice matters.
Thank you so much, Sophia, for your time and your action!
And to those reading this: Happy #FridaysForFuture! For next Friday, find your local strike point, or start one, and join us!
And to those reading this: Happy #FridaysForFuture! For next Friday, find your local strike point, or start one, and join us!
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Answers in these interviews are lightly edited for formatting/grammar/spelling and clarity.
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