On Friday, more than a million people are expected to walk out of their schools and homes and off their jobs. I will be one of them. We join the Global Climate Strike, a worldwide call to action, a demand for climate justice and real political solutions. We strike because we have a grievance — the climate crisis. We strike because the cause of the crisis is clear, and it demands the most urgent action of our lifetime.

As individuals, we do not wield the political power of the fossil fuel industry. Oil and coal companies give millions of dollars to campaigns for policy favors, and their executives sit in the highest levels of government. Alone, we cannot match their influence. We strike because linked together our voices cannot be ignored.

I strike because I am scared.

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Nikayla Jefferson graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Political Science in June 2019. She was active with the ENVENT Lab @ UCSB, and is a member of the Sunrise Movement in San Diego, a national organization that advocates for political action on climate change.