George Faseemo’s speech: Youth Rookies protest

George Faseemo (Senior, John Marshall High School)

I remember in the Spring of 2021, a few weeks after we came back to school, I was in Mr. Johnson's room and noticed a bright green flier on the wall, detailing the story of a rookery within Rochester that was threatened with destruction. I asked Mr. Johnson about said poster, and almost immediately I was folded into the Save the Rookery effort. Making instagram posts, posters, and organizing events happened almost immediately. I didn’t do all of this because I wanted to (although I did want to help); I did it because I felt and still do feel obligated to help undo the damage that humans have done and continue to do to our environment.

        The funny thing about it though is that I could tell that the same sense of duty washed over many of my peers who came in contact with the rookery effort. There isn’t a feeling of force, or coercion. Just simple duty. For older generations who are trying to understand what the fight for environmental justice and against climate change is like for us - this is it. We have no reservations, and no hesitation. There is nothing that can be done to slow this movement. So maybe we aren’t able to save this rookery this year, and maybe it’s developed by some company looking to make a quick buck off of our environment. But this fight truly doesn’t end until we guarantee the protection of our environment for years to come. Not because we all want to, or that we like spending an hour outside in Minnesota winter. It’s because we actually understand what the consequences are, and who’ll have to deal with them. 

        But obviously these feelings aren’t universal, not even generationally. So my message to those who aren’t here now is simple: When you see some flier or poster on some spring day, about some random environmental issue: Help out. Join in. Because this is on us now, and we all know no one else will do it for us.

George Faseemo