Sunrise Westchester celebrates a year of successful operation.
In the late spring of 2020, a group of high school students convened virtually to discuss starting a local chapter of the national Sunrise Movement. A year later, Sunrise Westchester’s sphere of influence has grown through social media presence and strategic lobbying of legislation.
Article by Nora Lowe
Amidst a persistent quarantine last spring, two Westchester high school students had an idea. Caitlyn Carpenter of Mamaroneck (15) and Sebastian Vasquez of Armonk (16), aspiring environmentalists and political pundits, wondered if they could start a local chapter of the Sunrise Movement. As young proponents of the Green New Deal, Carpenter and Vasquez set out to establish a Westchester-oriented hub of the organization.
Though there was originally a Sunrise Westchester hub a few years ago, it dissolved. Carpenter and Vasquez aimed to revive this concept and start the chapter from scratch.
The hub officially was established in April of 2020, but by June, they had recruited friends from towns around Westchester, and roles and responsibilities were delegated to develop each branch of the hub: Actions, Outreach, and Social Media. Thanks to the Instagram savvy of Jen Novick (16), the social media head, hub registration numbers were boosted from just 15 to 150. Novick comments, “social media allowed Sunrise Westchester to have a platform, a space to publicize what we’re working on and get the word out about our existence. A lot of new members found us this way, which grew the hub exponentially. We have so much to credit to other organizations and people that supported us publicly on their social media as it got our name out there.”
Vasquez reflects,
“It’s so amazing how far the hub has gotten in just one year; from just an idea between two people to both a community and a force that's creating a lot of positive change in Westchester.”
With bolstered participation, the hub was able to forge into many campaigns, experiencing both successes and setbacks. For example, through consistent emailing, phonebanking, and letter-writing to the public service commission, we helped to delay the expansion of a fracked gas plant in Newburgh (Danskammer) by six months. We’ve also learned to roll with the punches, such as when the Build Public Renewables Act was not passed in the current legislative session despite our protesting and chalking outside of Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ office. We remain optimistic about the potential of public power in New York State.
Above, from left to right: a snowman bears a sign in opposition to Danskammer, Carpenter and Vasquez speak at a protest for public power, a Zoom Christmas-themed letter-writing extravaganza in collaboration with Food & Water Watch, a public power rally outside Andrea Stewart-Cousins' office, a "postcard party" for Biden.
As the hub’s roots grew stronger, we created a network of ally and collaborator organizations: Food & Water Watch, Sunrise Bronx, Sunrise NYC, and Renewable Heat Now, to name a few. Soon after, we began to endorse local politicians: Mondaire Jones, Tasha Young, and Progressive 4 Peekskill (Conor Greene, Vanessa Agudelo, Amy Perlow, and Amy Vele).
Today, on Sunrise Westchester’s one year anniversary, we celebrate 365 days of environmental and social action, as well as look forward to the years to come.
Interested in joining the hub? Follow us on Instagram @sunrisewestchester and click the link in our bio!
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