Here at The Laura Flanders Show we have a comprehensive Internship program where participants work hands-on gaining first hand knowledge about our independent movement media operation producing our TV, radio and podcast releases. Throughout the program our entire staff spends time with each intern sharing their expertise and knowledge from editing to scripting to promotions and technical skills, and more. We mentor our interns and guide them in producing their own media pieces. You are about to hear one of those stories produced by High School student and Indigenous youth climate activist from Northern California, Te Maia Wiki, a 16 year old descendant of the Yurok people, from the Klamath River, and the Ngāti Porou and Te Aupōuri people, of New Zealand. Laura Flanders met her when reporting on the Red Road to D.C.
In November 2021, thousands of people gathered in Glasgow, Scotland for the United Nations Climate Summit, known as COP26. Climate scientists, policy makers and global leaders identified COP26 as a watershed moment for humanity – the point beyond which no amount of intervention would reign in rising global temperatures. If we didn’t take action at COP26 then humanity, literally, would be toast.
Te Maia Wiki, a 16 year old Indigenous environmental activist from northern California, was a delegate at COP26 and set out to answer one fundamental question: did we succeed? In this episode, Te Maia takes us on a journey through the murky haze of climate economics and the inequities of global climate policy created by the affluent West which have severe and damaging consequences for the developing world. Wiki talks to Khadija Shaikh, a student at the University of Connecticut, and Amiteshwar Singh, a climate activist and Chair of the COP26 National Working Group for Students for Global Health, to answer a simple question posed by her seven year old sister: will we be okay?
“Government officials may be present to represent the economic interests of their countries, but who’s raising concerns about values important to my people, like living in balance with the planet to ensure wellbeing for seven generations, or ensuring the integrity of sacred land is maintained?” – Te Maia Wiki
A special thanks to our supporters for making our internship program possible. Please consider joining us on Patreon to help us continue our internship program this spring.
