“You Should be Grateful that you Are Here”: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Study on Black Youth Activism Representation
摘要
In this chapter, we reflect on our subjective experiences of participating in a Summit on Climate Justice and youth activism as young Black youth activists still finding our voice in the global climate justice discourse. We recognise the importance of bringing forth marginalised and silenced voices in climate activism, especially in the African context. Using a collaborative autoethnography method, we explore the tensions we sat with at the Summit when we raised difficulties that young people in the Global South might face in advocating for climate justice while facing structural inequalities. We used autoethnography to retrospectively describe and represent our experiences through storytelling. We assert that while we all face climate change, our solutions to the crisis cannot be universal. Through this work, we wish to contribute to a conversation on what meaningful representation may look like in international spaces where solutions for the climate crisis are discussed. Finally, we problematise the idea that Black African women are asked to be grateful to have a seat at the table, even when the table is not inclusive. We argue that a seat at the table is not good enough until it ceases to be superficial.