Little Miss Flint Is Gearing Up For The People's Climate March

It's doubtful that Amariyanna "Marie" Copeny expected her letter to President Obama to get not only a response, but also earn her an in-person meeting with POTUS. Known in her hometown of Flint, Michigan, as "Little Miss Flint," Copeny wrote to Obama in 2016, asking him to come with her and others to the congressional hearings of Gov. Rick Snyder about his role in the Flint water crisis. Obama wrote her back, and then met an elated Copeny on her Washington, D.C. trip. Now, Little Miss Flint is featured in a promotional video encouraging viewers to participate in this Saturday's Climate March.

The video features Copeny in her own home, and shows her painting her face with a bright yellow sun, decorating a poster, and tying a band with the word "Resist" around her forehead. She tops off the look with a crown. Copeny lists the reasons she is marching: for her brother and sister, for the world, for America, for drinkable water.

The companies behind the film, Purpose and Footage Films, are telling. According to its "About" page, Purpose "builds movements and new power models to tackle the world's biggest problems." Under "Our Values," Purpose lists three: Common Humanity, Participation, and Pragmatic Idealism. And those are definitely on display in the "Little Miss Rambo" video.

The video is certainly compelling. The other company involved — Footage Films — focuses their energy on moving audiences from "passive to active," helping their clients "impact viewers and inspire them to take action."

The action called for here is participation in the People's Climate March. The first march occurred on Sept. 21, 2014, with 400,000 people gathered in New York City the day before the U.N. Climate Summit started. Since then, the People's Climate Movement (PCM) has hosted hundreds of locally-run events. In the aftermath of President Trump's election, the People's Climate March website described explicitly the threat they feel the new POTUS poses to their cause:

This is a moment to bring the range of progressive social change movements together. Pushing back against the Trump agenda and at the same time pushing forward on our vision of a clean, safe world where the rights of all people are protected and expanded means we all must work together.

While this year's main event will be the march in D.C., there are dozens of "sister marches" all around the world. For those who wish to stand with the PCM, a march near you can be found at the organization's website.