She has performed her poetry in front of audiences ranging from elementary school students to most recently over a hundred world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit, where she performed a poem to her daughter, "Dear Matafele Peinam". Bearing witness at the front lines of various activist movements inspires her work and has propelled her poetry onto international stages. Her writing highlights the traumas of colonialism, racism, forced migration, the legacy of American nuclear testing, and the impending threats of climate change. Kathy Jetnil Kijiner is a Marshallese poet and activist. I mean hey – if our students can demand divestment from their institution, yours can too. So this is a shoutout from CMI to the rest of the colleges, universities, and organizations around the Pacific to join us in this movement, and to take that next step to divest from fossil fuels. They are taking the next step – and hopefully our Board of Regents will listen. “This is a really important and critical step not just for our college, but our country as well, in trying to protest against some of the major contributing factors to climate change,” they wrote in an email to the student body. Among the activities will be classroom presentations on what divestment means, an essay and poster contest, a painting of a mural, and activities for each day of the week. I am so proud of these students for taking this initiative on their own to raise awareness amongst their fellow students. This is the fight of all students in the Pacific.Īfter the divestment training, the SBA announced that they will be hosting a “Divestment Spirit Week” this coming week. And this – the climate struggle – this is in our backyard – this our islands. Historically, college students have always been the leaders of major social movements. Students in the Pacific especially need to come together and take an active role in this movement. They need to make socially responsible investments because it’s completely unacceptable for them to make profit off the destruction of our islands. Universities, colleges, organizations, and financial institutions, such as ANZ management, must align their money with their morals. This move is triggering and connected to the launch of the Pacific Divestment Campaign, being supported by the Pacific Climate Warriors of the 350 Pacific network ( ). They are the ones who will inherit the future of these islands – they need to understand the fine print on the warning label.Īnd we’re hoping it won’t just be our college divesting. Leaders who will have to deal with either a harsher climate reality than the one that exists now, or a future of transition and change from fossil fuels to greener energy. CMI is the only college of the nation – we are teaching and shaping the next leaders of our country. With all this looming on the horizon, CMI is in the perfect position to take that step to divest. The recent IPCC report says that by 2050 global electricity needs to be low-carbon, and that to get right on track, the world would have to cut fossil fuel investments annually between now and 2029, and use that money for renewable energy. That our college must join this movement. So during my divestment training, I stood in front of student leaders here at CMI, and I told them what I’ve recently realized. What so many people don’t realize, is that a lot of that money is our own money. About 28 trillion dollars are invested in the fossil fuel industry – and it’s this money that is going towards buying out politicians and funding climate deniers. It’s a moral imperative that as banks continue to grow in the region they must side with the people, not the polluters. While our islands may seem small, businesses for the banks here is profitable and growing.
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