A Bigger Picture

Vanessa Nakate is a Ugandan climate activist. The book title is a play on the story that catapulted her into the news. She was part of a youth climate change delegation to Davos that included Greta Thunberg and three other prominent young, white female activists. In their coverage, the Associated Press cut Vanessa from the photo.

Vanessa was outraged, and her video condemning the racist edit went viral. Africa generates the least carbon dioxide of all the continents, and it is most affected by climate change. In all subsequent photo shoots, the group placed Vanessa in the center so it… show more.

Vanessa Nakate is a young Ugandan climate activist who was excised from a photo of gathered young climate warriors (which included Greta Thunberg) as they prepared a response to DAVOS, the World Economic Forum accused of peddling the destructive myth of ‘eternal economic growth.’ (The other four activists in the photograph were all white, suggesting racism operates structurally at many levels—and within multiple contexts.) Nakate provides a refreshing perspective of driving climate activism from the Global South—centering those not only most detrimentally impacted by climate depredations, but also the most disempowered to respond and be heard. Her concluding chapter on… show more.

Writing about climate justice from the relative security of Scotland, with the unearned privileges of being white, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t read, hear, and try to absorb the insights of the women and girls of colour, especially in the global south. This book is both an inspiration and stark reminder of what a fundamentally global injustice this is. As a Ugandan, Vanessa Nakate knows too well what climate change can do: the pain is already real, in countries like hers. As an activist, she has been kept out of the picture when it comes to… show more.