 Looking at the numbers coming in God, Australia 300,000 people apparently Germany had 1.4 mil on its own So this crowd might be actually huge Vic Barrett the 20 year old climate activist from White Plains, New York, please welcome Vic to the stage Starting on this day September 20th 2019 everything began to change My mother left the coast of Honduras a place battered by storms and sea level rise to find opportunity in New York City The city of immigrants. I wonder how many people trying to find refuge here knew That because of the amount of money in their bank account or the color of their skin They'd be placed on the front lines of disasters Disasters like Hurricane Sandy Sandy Maria Irma Dorian This crisis this crisis follows people. My name is Vic Barrett I'm 20 years old, and I'm one of the 21 youth plaintiffs in the Juliana versus United States constitutional lawsuit suing the executive branch of the federal government for knowingly causing climate change Irreversibly threatening our health our personal security our homes and our communities by recreating a dangerous climate system Like youth who have come before us in the civil rights movement and other social justice movements It is often the youth that must shine a light on systems of injustice We know the world we want to grow up in better than anybody else does So we need to be listened to I was born into a world in which my future is being stolen from me Born into a world where my people face extinction Indigenous lands all over our planet are being flooded Poisoned and destroyed my black brothers and sisters are being gunned down by police Migrant children are dying at the border trans folks are being murdered violence is in the air that we breathe There is a lesson. I have learned from my ancestors Some of us are blessed with the ability to withstand the unthinkable in our blood My people are stripped of their humanity We're made a product They fought back risking it all so that I can exist. I Exist at the intersection of the identities I inhabit first gen trans Indigenous Latino black It took 20 years for me to realize that I had developed mechanisms for resilience that I didn't even know I had I'll never simply hand over what centuries of struggle made mine, and I'm not alone We must do whatever it takes ever it takes whatever it takes Yeah, I energy in this park right now There are so many people here. I couldn't even tell you how much Out here to strike and get their voices heard and make sure that we're marking a battery park and letting the Politicians and the political leaders who are about to be here for the UN summit know that young people care about this issue We're here to write a new story a story in which our country is doing everything in its power to just not only the Climate crisis but the systemic injustices at its roots Those history books won't write themselves So I want you to repeat after me. This is our future. I will do Whatever it takes To protect our rights To protect our planet and to protect our people Thank you