All Life Is Interrelated
The text below is a speech delivered by Youth Environmental Press Team Director Raina Maiga, a Sophomore at Purdue Polytechnic High School in Indianapolis. Maiga spoke as a youth leader with Confront the Climate Crisis at the Indiana Statehouse, Feb. 1, 2023, at a rally in support of legislation to create a Climate Task Force.
Greetings everyone!
It is a great pleasure to be here today. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for being here. Thank you to every one of our partners and supporters in hosting this event.
Growing up my favorite show to watch was The Flash. Not only because of the awesome storyline and action but also because of the never-ending connections to other shows: Super Girl, The Legends of Tomorrow, and The Arrow. There isn’t a place to hide from The Flash storyline. However, I always felt like there was a piece different about the show. From all fronts, the story followed the normal super hero timeline: a normal guy mysteriously gains superpowers from a tragedy, forms a team, gets a cool suit, and goes on to fight crime.
But there was always something different with The Flash, a super speedster who could travel so fast that he would time-travel. It was way too cool for my brain. But soon this fun and original storyline became a curse of good television the longer the story went on. Because of the abundance of villains in the show The Flash would often find himself in the past trying to do damage control before things spilled far beyond containment. I will keep some major spoilers to myself but what I will have you know with the special ability to time travel also came rules that could not be broken.
Leaders of Confront the Climate Crisis at the Feb. 1 event. Author Raina Maiga stands, far right.
Number one rule: the changes made in the past affect the future.
One of the best illustrations of connectivity is a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
While this quote from his 1967 sermon was more directed toward globalization and the push for global peace, I can't think of a better quote that signifies our alliance today. Although to many, Dr. King doesn't embody the modern idea of environmental justice and climate advocacy, I offer a different perspective. He was a man who cared about a cause that was much greater than one man or one injustice. And I can't help but notice the similarities in the room today. We have rallied as one group in support of a cause that is much greater than one man, one injustice, or one group.
As we stand here on the first day of Black History Month, I so hope that we can see the connectivity that Dr. King worked so tirelessly for us to see. The reality that he so longed for us to live. While I can’t speak for all, I can say that the reality that I see for us is a future of peace, health, and sustainable prosperity.
Our individual actions affect the people in our shared space both directly and indirectly. In the case of our superhero, Flash, his actions determined the future of millions. So yes, while I am not a superhero, have super speed, have super cool suits — even tho I wish I did — I often relate to The Flash in my everyday life.
We are both trying to beat the odds of the projected future.
I think we can all agree that a warmer and wetter Indiana isn’t a future we want to see. So while navigating through life we must realize that this sense of interrelation can only be beneficial if we utilize it as such. Our actions must reflect a sense of responsibility for not only our future, but others.
For the past two legislative sessions, Confront the Climate Crisis has been working on a Climate Task Force bill, a bill focused on a task force centered around studying some of the most prominent environmental initiatives and their adaptability to Indiana.
And standing here today, I can only hope that each one of you are willing to see the vision we saw when we embarked on this process. That vision carries a theme of affordability. Simply put we can not afford to not act. To not build a path for us to decide the future we want to take on. So like The Flash, we must waste no time in changing as much of the projected future to come. Our treatment of our earth must reflect that future of peace, health, and prosperity that we all want for our selves and our future generations.
Confront the Climate Crisis rally on Feb. 1, 2023, in support of a Climate Task Force.
And I so hope that SB 335 can be an element to building the future we strive for. Looking at this crowd, I see an abundance of young adults. While I can not make you any promises, I can say that your willingness to be here shows your commitment. Your willingness to build a foundation of change. Today is a day to be heard and seen.
I hope our legislators are hearing us and seeing us. With the power entrusted to them by Hoosiers, they are the backbone of the implementation of innovative solutions. That is why I hope they will not only hear our cause they will welcome it because we will work to no end in urging the Indiana General Assembly to prioritize climate initiatives throughout the legislative process.
So to each one of you who are here in support of our organization: thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for believing in us. And as we part ways toward a better tomorrow I hope we can all learn how to hold our connections as high as we can or super speed through time.
