2024 Earth Day!

This year hundreds of Bay Area youth gathered for an Earth Day action centered on reclaiming earth day's anti-imperialist roots; environmental justice can not exist in a world where imperialism, war, and genocide is tolerated, centered, and profited off of. As youth organizers, we know that we must use our collective power to uplift the struggles happening in the Global South, especially the struggles that are caused by our own countries’ war-profiteering and imperialist practices.

We worked as youth leaders in coalition with a multitude of other community members and organizations to coordinate an Earth Day centered on Palestine, Sudan and Congo- countries going through massive violence at the hands of western imperialism.

These struggles not only result in mass death of entire communities, but also the destruction of entire ecosystems and the environment around them. We know that militarism and imperialism are the largest emitters of fossil fuels in the world. Though this is true, they are also rarely held accountable for their role in environmental destruction. 

“We come together this Earth Day to confront corporations like BlackRock and Bank of New York Mellon who are responsible for investing in imperialism and profiting off of mass death. BlackRock and BNY Mellon are investing in weapon manufacturers that are complicit in committing genocide against Palestinians. 

BlackRock is an investment company that invests millions in companies including RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics that manufacture weapons that the Israeli Occupation Forces use to commit genocide against Palestinians. Blackrock is also invested in various companies furthering imperialism in Palestine, Congo, and Sudan, as well as being complicit in destruction all around the world. 

BNY Mellon is invested in Elbit Systems which is Israel’s largest weapons firm playing a huge role in the Genocide against Palestinians, as well as facilitating a donor-advised fund called “Friends of the IDF” which sends money to Israeli Occupation Forces to commit genocide. 

Nobody should be able to make millions of dollars off of death and destruction. We are not disposable, and we will continue to call out capitalists and imperialists who prioritize profit over people and our lives. We demand these war-profiteering corporations to divest from genocide and imperialism in Palestine, Congo, and Sudan. ”