Sunrise Movement - Zoomer "climate activist" cult, stormed the Capitol before it was cool

[Marshal Mannerheim]

The Sunrise Movement is a cult that recruits young people in the US under the guise of "climate activism". I've mentioned them before on a couple of threads but I couldn't find a thread for them, so here goes.

First off, I have to credit @NoReturn @Cryptojew and @Crystal Golem who all helped me put this thread together. I honestly couldn't have done it without you guys.

About Sunrise:
According to their website, Sunrise became more active in 2017. I don't know what exactly they did before Trump was elected, but Wikipedia says that they were founded in 2013 with the help of a guy called Michael Dorsey, so they must have been doing something. Sunrise's first real "action" was when they held a sit-in in Nancy Pelosi's office in 2018 in order to try and get her to endorse the Green New Deal. After this they decided to protest Diane Feinstein's office, again to get her to support the GND. This might just seem like something any politisperging group would do, but there's a few things that are different about Sunrise:

Recruiting high school students:
Sunrise routinely tries to "activate" students to bring about a "climate revolution". When they picketed Feinstein's office, they got primary school-aged kids to try and deliver a letter to her:

Generally they use high school students; for instance, they drew up a "Youth Strike" plan that would have been led by high schoolers:

I also found some minutes of a meeting where they talked about an event they held for minors. Some choice quotes are:

Weird New Age crap:
One of the most lulzy and creepy things about Sunrise is the way they base so much of their "movement" off horoscopes:

or straight up neopaganism:

Interestingly enough, another leftist lolcow built an altar. Does this mean Phil might start larping as an environmentalist?

Chinese funding:
One of Sunrise's founders, Michael Dorsey, appeared on Chinese state TV to discuss climate change:

Millennial Millie, a Q tard pro-Trump commentator, talked about Sunrise being funded by China when she went on Alex Jones' show. I don't know for sure if they are controlled by China, but if you wanted to draw attention from the pollution your country caused funding a group like Sunrise would be a good way to do that.

Criticism of Sunrise:
Unsurprisingly, both leftists and rightists have criticised Sunrise for quite a few different reasons. Alex O'Keefe, who was paid by Sunrise to work as a "community organiser", left Sunrise (https://archive.md/bdVkg) while accusing them of being "subverted" by billionaires:

This seems awfully like how cults treat anyone who wants to leave.

Varshini Prakash, the "executive director" of Sunrise, said (https://archive.md/SC9jZ) that O'Keefe hadn't been doing any work and she sacked him because of this:

Draw your own conclusions - you can read his letter at https://archive.md/AocQ3.
O'Keefe isn't the only person to get sacked by Sunrise: Akshai Singh (https://archive.md/k8U5p) was also fired while trying to "unionise" Sunrise's paid staff.

On the other side of politics, Michelle Malkin (https://archive.md/dW0k5) wrote an article (https://archive.md/uT9OL) about Sunrise, and Millennial Millie (https://archive.md/wImXx) managed to "infiltrate" them. Make of all this what you will.

Links:
Twitter, https://archive.md/34jqF
Instagram, https://archive.md/Nwc3c
Website, https://archive.md/YZuaP
Varshini Prakash's Twitter, https://archive.md/iemIo
A website with some leaked documents from Sunrise, https://archive.md/S1gvD

 

[Sperghetti]

I’ve been curious about these guys since last year, especially after I got a hand-written post card from them during election season.

Their focus on young people is especially suspicious. I swear there’s something in those leaked internal documents that says (in the usual progressive language) that people over 30 in the organization need to shut up and let the younger members run the show. As if everybody at the top who’s funding this thing isn’t either Gen X or a Boomer.

 

[NigKid]

Could they have made that logo any more cult like?

 

[Thomas Paine]

Seems familiar...

 

[Sprate Header]

Imagine if the Scientology whistleblowers had to append a "they're also doing this to black people" to their testimonies to get people to care.

Crazy shit, good OP!

 

[Crystal Golem]

Good to see this up! Here's Michael Dorsey shilling his heart out for China on CGTN.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdbpkL7qLWw
Here's Varshini Prakash doing a promo for Bernie Back in 2020

Source: https://twitter.com/demsocialists/status/1215238914530668544?lang=en
Archive: https://archive.ph/waifl

It's worth noting that the Sunrise Movement was highly involved with Bernie's 2020 campaign and were a pretty significant financial backer.

 

[Flim Flam]

This is very interesting. Good start to the thread.

 

[Marshal Mannerheim]

Good start to the thread.

Crazy shit, good OP!

Thanks!

Imagine if the Scientology whistleblowers had to append a "they're also doing this to black people" to their testimonies to get people to care.

I think I should point something out - O'Keefe still supports the Green New Deal, still calls the 2020 peaceful protests an "uprising", and still acts as if he's in Sunrise. The reason he left was because he thought Sunrise was selling out to Biden and that Prakash was listening to Sunrise's neoliberal, rich donors more than she was to "Black and working class Sunrisers".

If you want to carry on using the "Sunrise = Scientology" comparison, then O'Keefe is basically the Sunrise version of a Free Zoner.

 

[NoReturn]

Their focus on young people is especially suspicious. I swear there’s something in those leaked internal documents that says (in the usual progressive language) that people over 30 in the organization need to shut up and let the younger members run the show. As if everybody at the top who’s funding this thing isn’t either Gen X or a Boomer.

You'd be correct in that, the post card is one thing, but there's actually a whole episode of Queer Eye season 5 that's basically just an ad for Sunrise: S5:E5 “The Anxious Activist - Abby Leedy”

Queer Eye Season 5: Abby- The Makeover And Reveal - Bobby Berk
We meet Abby Leedy in Episode 5- “The Anxious Activist”. (Spoilers ahead – you know the drill!) Abby is an 18-year-old working for the Sunrise Movement, an organization working to stop climate change. And she doesn’t just work there- she eats, sleeps, and breathes it – and lives in a house with her co-workers! But while she’s totally focused on her activism, Abby is forgetting the most important thing – taking care of herself.
The Fab Five step in to give her home (and wardrobe) an update that retains a youthful spirit – and show her that sustainability and self-care can go hand in hand.

2020 update:

Abby From Queer Eye Is Fighting For More Than Climate Change Now
Queer Eye season 5 introduced viewers to 18-year-old Abby Leedy. The young activist works with the The Sunrise Movement in Philadelphia to stop climate change. After Queer Eye, Abby Leedy has been busier than ever with her activism work, but she tells Refinery29 that the Fab Five did help her learn to slow down a bit.
"The biggest lesson I learned from being on the show was that I needed to do some serious work on my anxiety and work-life balance," Leedy says. "Organizing brings me a lot of joy, but working so much and not giving myself time to deal with my mental health issues was going to lead to serious burnout. The only way I can keep doing the work I love long term is to slow down and take breaks when I need them — and that goes for all of us, especially now."
But even through learning to balance her work life and personal life a bit more, Leedy has remained active in the climate justice world. She tells R29 that she took another year off from school to continue her efforts with Sunrise, and she's since moved out of the organization's house that Bobby Berk redid. Now she is living with some of her fellow activists.
Leedy doesn't have a huge personal social media presence, but she's been tagged in her friends' Instagrams at various climate justice events since the show wrapped. In October 2019, she went to Washington D.C. to where she spoke passionately in front of an audience at a climate change rally. "I read once that this summer was the hottest in the last 125 years," she said. "But when I hear that, all I think is that it's probably the coolest one for the next 125 years." Then, in December, she helped organize a climate strike in Philadelphia that earned the young activist a profile by Philadelphia Magazine. In February of this year, she helped organize the "stand up or step aside" protest in D.C. where middle school and high school students challenged Senators on their climate stances.
Now, Leedy and Sunrise have turned their attention to another pressing issue, Black Lives Matter. "Right now, all of our work at Sunrise is focusing on supporting the Movement for Black Lives' demands to defend Black lives by defunding police and investing in communities," Leedy says. "To that end, I've been going to protests in Philly, organizing Sunrise folks into protests where they are, and helping put on trainings so folks know how to show up safely when they go."
One thing is for sure after watching Leedy's Queer Eye episode and hearing what she's up to now: These kids are alright.

2020 TL;DR: She wasn't even living in the house anymore (my guess, the higher-ups wanted it) and was "living with some of her fellow activists" like a good commie. Not only that, but the article mentions their focus on BLM, so she wasn't even working on the issue she signed up to address.

2021 update, she's not even the focus of this article:

Meet Chanté Davis, a youth climate activist and champion for change
[...]
Inspirational activists and role models
One amazing source of inspiration for Chanté is Abby Leedy, an organizer with the Sunrise Movement who has appeared on Queer Eye. "I definitely look up to her...she taught me about the organizing process and really motivated my work—she cared, and she wanted me to grow as a leader," Chanté shares. Leah Thomas is another role model Chanté looks up to. "I know that intersectionality in the climate crisis has been an important topic, especially in this past year, and I just love the work that she's doing." Chanté's other role models include Danni Washington, Sylvia Earle and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC).
[...]

She also hasn't updated her Instagram in almost a year.

 

[Fetish Roulette]

@NoReturn, reply is being gay, but I find that Abby Leedy stuff fascinating.

It's obvious that the Sunrise Movement dropped her, and I think there are a couple of different reasons for that. First (and somewhat most obviously), Abby wasn't much use to the people in charge after that burst of media attention from Queer Eye dried up. However, that continuum of replacement with Chante Davis in 2021 is somewhat more interesting- by refreshing their media portrayal of activists with ever younger versions, the Sunrisers can both make sure the movement never grows "old" in the public mindset and ensure that no single activist ever gets enough prolonged media exposure to overshadow the Sunrise Movement itself. Perhaps liberal activists learned from what happened with David Hogg?

Also, It's interesting that they replaced Abby Leedy with a minority who, and this is a direct quote from the article, "understands the power of youth voices, especially those of people of color. Through her activism and campaigns, Chanté helps to raise the voices of BIPOC youth so that they are heard and connected with the movement." Movement leaders obviously wanted to dial up the idpol on next year's model- the entire article is about how BIPOC teens can get involved and how climate justice and racial justice are actually totally the same thing, but to what end? Are the people pulling the strings looking to rake in the shitlib donation dollars, or is there a racial identarian purity spiral going on inside the organization?

 

[NoReturn]

@NoReturn, reply is being gay, but I find that Abby Leedy stuff fascinating.

It's obvious that the Sunrise Movement dropped her, and I think there are a couple of different reasons for that. First (and somewhat most obviously), Abby wasn't much use to the people in charge after that burst of media attention from Queer Eye dried up. However, that continuum of replacement with Chante Davis in 2021 is somewhat more interesting- by refreshing their media portrayal of activists with ever younger versions, the Sunrisers can both make sure the movement never grows "old" in the public mindset and ensure that no single activist ever gets enough prolonged media exposure to overshadow the Sunrise Movement itself. Perhaps liberal activists learned from what happened with David Hogg?

I discussed with with @Marshal Mannerheim outside this thread, but it honestly reminds me of what we see in the tech industry with internships and recent graduates. Specifically the pattern of:

1. Hire a recent graduate and/or grab an unpaid intern who is still in school
2. Run them absolutely ragged, taking advantage of their youthful enthusiasm and eagerness to prove themselves
3. Constantly remind them of "the promise" so they don't complain. For startups it's something like "Remember [X] mega-corporation was once a startup too! Don't you want to be onboard?", for cults it's "We're making a difference!" or "Devotion to the cause will yield [desirable result]!"
4. If their work quality starts to suffer as they get burned out, fire them. If they get too old, fire them. Let your competitors pick up the disillusioned burnouts you've left behind, or even better, hope they exit the industry entirely so you don't have to deal with them again.
5. Repeat ad infinitum with "upgrades" as market demands. (In this case, a black girl, but we might see Afghani immigrants or something down the line if that's more profitable).

Also, It's interesting that they replaced Abby Leedy with a minority who, and this is a direct quote from the article, "understands the power of youth voices, especially those of people of color. Through her activism and campaigns, Chanté helps to raise the voices of BIPOC youth so that they are heard and connected with the movement." Movement leaders obviously wanted to dial up the idpol on next year's model- the entire article is about how BIPOC teens can get involved and how climate justice and racial justice are actually totally the same thing, but to what end?

Cash money baby. If you have time to burn, I recommend listening to this whole series:

The White Saviors (Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Podyssey)​

The title is absolute clickbait horseshit, but the podcast itself is excellent, and goes into detail about how much money these kinds of organizations can rake in and how they hide it/what they can do with it to get away with it.

Are the people pulling the strings looking to rake in the shitlib donation dollars, or is there a racial identarian purity spiral going on inside the organization?

A little column A, a little column B, I'd imagine.

 

[Mender Bug]

These would have been the people who stormed the catipal if trump won.

 

[Beautiful Border]

When you order Extinction Rebellion from Wish

 

[Cryptojew]

So I've talked about this before in a few threads, but my brother is a Sunrise activist. I'll avoid giving any specific anecdotes, but the group definately promotes cult-like behavior in their members- my bro has become completely brainwashed by their politics and tries to work climate change into every conversation he's in. He sounds like he's reading from a script when he discusses it, and I've gotten him to admit that he's coached on how to discuss their causes with people. He's actually neglected his schoolwork to do activist shit with them, and is falling behind in his classes because of them. They've also convinced him to take electives on weather science in addition to his political studies coursework, which is retarded unless you intend on being a climate grifter your whole life.

It sucks because it's honestly putting a strain on our relationship. Now whenever I visit there's at least one argument about politics because it's as if he's been programmed to bring up the Green New Deal whenever humanly possible.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Is this cult a symptom of an eventual collapse?

 

[Niggernerd]

They should have been shot for attacking our democracy

 

[Lovecraft's Cat]

Something to keep our eyes on
https://www.mobilize.us/sunrisemovement/event/419311/

 

[Cryptojew]

Something to keep our eyes on
https://www.mobilize.us/sunrisemovement/event/419311/

...I don't get it. Is there meant to be a joke here?

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

Is this cult a symptom of an eventual collapse?

I told you to stop doomerposting bro.

 

[Marshal Mannerheim]

View attachment 2593483
...I don't get it. Is there meant to be a joke here?

Kyrsten Sinema is bisexual and er... not very attractive. The joke is that the event was set up by a group of bisexuals who are against Sinema and better looking than her.