There are many with a deep and abiding understanding of the depth and breadth of the climate, economic, ecological, social, political crisis we are facing and its common twisted roots. They will not just travel to New York [this weekend to participate in the People's Climate March] and then go quietly home afterwards feeling satisfied and personally redeemed.
They will be there, some long beforehand, doing the serious heavy lifting required to build a movement. They will be participating in the "Convergence for People, Planet and Peace Over Profit", discussing strategy, sharing knowledge and forging plans for the future monumental task that is "System Change Not Climate Change". They will link up to learn from and build solidarity with frontline communities and activists at The People's Summit.
They will stick around after the march to get on with the relentlessly demanding work of building the "post-march world" which means moving mountains, confronting the criminal corporate behemoths, speaking truth to power, putting their hearts, souls and lives on the line to make and shape a just, peaceful, healthy and yes, even potentially beautiful, future.
What less can we aspire to?
Those who will take on this task are mothers and fathers who care for future generations. They are people who cannot simply accept the drowning of nations and starvation and violent obliteration of millions. They are people who cherish and understand the intricate grace of nature and mourn its brutally evident dying. They are those who can still hear the voices of their ancestors calling on them to live honorably as stewards on this earth.
They are people who understand that climate change is not just one among an army of issues, but rather it is the "perfect storm" of all issues—a sum greater than all its parts, spawned by a convergence of abuses: from wars and genocides to drilling, pumping, burning and mining the place to ruins, from racism, sexism and colonialism, to spewing toxic chemicals, mowing down ecosystems and poisoning the oceans.
Climate Change is not just an "inconvenience" to be resolved by plugging into some other currency of extraction ("sustainable, green and renewable" energy). It is the defining context of our lives and of this time in the history of life on earth.
– Rachel Smolker
Excerpted from "After the Climate March, Then What?"
Huffington Post via Common Dreams
September 19, 2014
Excerpted from "After the Climate March, Then What?"
Huffington Post via Common Dreams
September 19, 2014
UPDATES:
Inside the Biggest Climate March in History – Tim McDonnell and James West (Mother Jones, September 21, 2014).
18 Witty Signs and Costumes from the People's Climate March – Max Knoblauch (Mashable, September 21, 2014).
Among the Marchers – Bill McKibben (The New Yorker, September 22, 2014).
Protesters Stage Wall Street Climate Crisis Sit-In – Jennifer Peltz (Associated Press via Yahoo! News, September 22, 2014).
After People’s Climate March, Thousands Re-Kindle Occupy Wall Street – Joshua Holland and John Light (BillMoyers.com, September 23, 2014).
Scenes From Flood Wall Street, Occupy's "Family Reunion" – Katie Van Syckle (New York Magazine, September 23, 2014).
Faith Leaders March for Climate, Call for Fossil Fuel Divestment – Maureen Fiedler (National Catholic Reporter, September 26, 2014).
Image: Michael Polard (Mother Jones).
Related Off-site Links:
A People’s Climate Movement: Indigenous, Labor, Faith Groups Prepare for Historic March – Democracy Now! (September 19, 2014).
Climate Change You Can Believe In – Bill Moyers and Michael Winship (Common Dreams, September 19, 2014).
Making the Connection: The Peoples Climate March and International Day of Peace – Robert Dodge (Common Dreams, September 19, 2014).
A Climate Week to Change Everything – Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan (Democracy Now!, September 18, 2014).
Errors and Emissions: Could Fighting Global Warming Be Cheap and Free? – Paul Krugman (New York Times, September 18, 2014).
Capitalism vs. the Climate: Naomi Klein on the Need for a New Economic Model to Address Ecological Crisis – Democracy Now! (September 18, 2014).
The Left vs. the Climate: Why Progressives Should Reject Naomi Klein's Pastoral Fantasy — and Embrace Our High-Energy Planet – Will Boisvert (The Breakthrough, September 18, 2014).
Pope Francis' Radical Environmentalism – Tara Isabella Burton (The Atlantic, July 11, 2014).
Pope Francis, the Environment, and the U.S. – Michael Sean Winters (National Catholic Reporter, July 14, 2014).
Eight Pseudo-scientific Climate Claims Debunked by Real Scientists – Joshua Holland (BillMoyers.com, May 16, 20140.
Will We Adjust to Life on a Finite Planet or Continue Devouring Our Future? – Chris Hedges (TruthOut.org, January 14, 2013).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Superstorm Sandy: A 'Wake-Up Call' on Climate Change
• Quote of the Day – May 31, 2011
• Threshold Musings
• A Creative Exploration of the "Spiritual Dialectic of WONDER?!"
Opening image: Recent flooding in Kashmir has lead to hundreds of deaths and hundreds of thousands of evacuations. (Photo: Svenska Röda Korset)
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