On Friday, Sept. 20, various organizations local to Western Massachusetts hosted public events as part of a larger global movement to fight climate change. These events were largely inspired by the work of climate activist Greta Thunberg. Groups including Extinction Rebellion Western Mass., Sunrise Northampton, and Climate Action Now helped organize a march and rally at Northampton City Hall, as well as a Solidarity Strike at Pulaski Park, a Solidarity Vigil in Springfield, a dance benefit at the First Churches in Northampton, and several other events.
“The next thing we have planned is next Friday the 27th. We have a street theater action on UMass campus,” said Adrie Rose, a current Ada Comstock Scholar and Extinction Rebellion Western Mass. organizer. Rose continued, “so that will be a funeral procession, and then a die-in and sort of a symbolic declaration. We’ve already sent letters with our 5 demands to the colleges, but that’ll be sort of our symbolic presentation.”
Rose explained that the five demands are a mix of a global, national, and local focus. “The five demands are number one to tell the truth, that governments and institutions need to declare a state of climate emergency. Number two is act now, we have to act like it’s an emergency…Number three is that that process needs to include a citizen’s assembly,” Rose said. The fourth demand, added by the national Extinction Rebellion group in addition to the global three, ensures the marginalized communities are given due attention. “Number five, which we added because we’re speaking to the 5 Colleges as educational institutions,” Rose said, “[is] that they need to be preparing their students for the future that they’re going to be in, so that part of the curriculum actually needs to be that all students are being fully prepared for living in the climate emergency.”
The events featured many different speakers. At Pulaski Park, Rose and other members of the aforementioned climate change groups spoke first before opening up the stage to the general public. Many members of the community spoke, singing songs and sharing personal anecdotes related to climate change. Some even branched into other topics such as addiction.
The Climate Emergency March started at Sheldon Field, where participants gathered before walking to Northampton City Hall. Protesters included people of all ages with signs, many of whom were chanting or even playing the drums. Passersby watched from the sidewalk, and many people who were not marching came out of shops to watch the procession.
Once the march reached City Hall, many speakers came out and addressed the crowd, including City Councilman Ryan O’Donnell, State Sen. Jo Comerford, State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, members of Divest Smith College, Victor Davila of the Springfield and Forest Park Civic Association, as well as several others.
“You are what’s powerful…,” Sen. Comerford said, addressing the crowd. “You are what’s going to make the Green New Deal revolution a reality here in Northampton, in the statehouse, and in Washington D.C. Marches like this demonstrate the kind of sheer people power that it’s gonna take to hold government accountable, because government doesn’t work unless people like you make it work.”
Andrea Schmid, a Smith student involved with the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, also spoke about the impacts of climate change on families and marginalized communities. “Family separation is the future if all of this continues,” Schmid said, “and it’s for this reason that confronting climate change is much more than slashing emissions and targeting fossil fuel industries. In order to win, we have to fight against neoliberalism. We need to fight against labor exploitation, against racism, against the patriarchy, and it means overthrowing the capitalist system.”
Three students from J.F.K. Middle School also took the stage after being introduced by their teacher, Kate Parrott. Each one expressed the severity of the current state of the climate, and urged everyone in the crowd to do what they can to make sure the planet is habitable for future generations.
“I’m here for one reason and one reason only: to spread the word that climate change is happening, and we can’t just let it fly by. Each day we worsen climate change, but we could be making it better,” said Jamie, one of the students. “Let me ask you this: how many people do you think drove a car to get to work today?… Collectively, cars and trucks account for nearly ⅕ of all U.S. emissions, emitting around 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases for every gallon of gas. That’s surprising, isn’t it? But it doesn’t have to be this way. I want you to know that every single one of you is helping. By just being here I think you’re doing so much. But, we need to do more. We need to step up. We should fight for our Earth. We need to fight for our future. Thank you.”
