A winged messenger.
A couple weeks ago I was talking to a friend at my regular coffee shop who told me about the People's Climate March. I expressed my interest in documenting it, contacts were made, and I was given the the opportunity to take photos at the demonstration on Sunday. I never before had the chance to capture such a large event, so I was game to give it a go despite the 50-hour round-trip bus ride.
Reports came my way that 100,000+ people were to gather to demonstrate prior to the U.N. climate summit. The purpose of their gathering was to get the attention of U.N. leaders and deliver the message that the public wants renewable energy resources and wants to cut dependence on fossil fuels. Though I was sympathetic to the cause, I wasn't quite sure if I would have demonstrated had I not been there to document.
Demonstrators lift a parachute that resembles a giant sunflower.
What I witnessed was truly surprising. Not only was the demonstration of 1960's proportion, 3-4 times larger than predicted, but it was perhaps the most diverse event I have ever been too. It was impressive to me that so many people groups represented in unprecedented numbers spanning age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religious and political affiliation, and nationality could all ban together for the cause of conservation. There was a constituency of every imaginable type.
Latino-Americans parading with "Madre Tierra."
The Hare Krishnas chanting and having the most fun of anyone.
There were advocates for honeybees.
I was told the name of this constituency is "Boobies Against Fracking."
Clad in veggie armor, this small group of food advocates showed solidarity.
Dancers on stilts accompanied a second line band.
The March was a melting pot unlike anything I had seen before. There were Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheist; Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists; elderly, youth, disabled, abled. According to the all messages I was given as a child in America, it was a perfect example of all the good things about this country.
There were many instruments showcased at the March, including these bagpipes and rams horn.
From the indigenous peoples to the feminists, this ever-eclectic group seemed to share a sense of urgency for the matter they were all concerned over: the fate of our planet. It's no wonder, either. As I traveled with a group from Little Rock to the March, we made a stop at Oak Ridge National Laboratory: one of the Department of Energy's largest research facilities. There we listened to several lectures from leading climate researchers who gave a grim report, which, in short, showed that major change is taking place in the Earth's oceans and weather systems. They also informed us that it will require considerable and immediate change in mankind's fossil fuel habit for there to be any hope to slowing such changes.
Remember when the Tea Party took off? Their rallies would range in attendance from several hundred to a few thousand, and they were everywhere in the media. Considering this, it seems strange that 300,000-400,000 people could peacefully unite for a common cause and major media sources barely mention it. No reporters on the ground. No man-on-the-street interviews. No exposés.
What more can really be expected, though? Big media requires big money, and that big money is sourced from big businesses– most of which rely on the same carbon-heavy practices the activists at the People's Climate March wish to see abolished. It seems unlikely that major media sources will ever find it in their interest to give such a movement the coverage it deserves given its relevance.
In its infancy, the Tea Party was just a group of far right extremist, and that gave them a polarizing quality that could be used to the advantage of conservative media or liberal media. It was all in the spin a given source put to a story. The People's Climate March saw too diverse a group galvanized on too universal an issue to be spun to the advantage of the Left or the Right. So, kind of awkwardly, major media sources merely recognized that there was a large march about climate change, and that was it.
I would encourage everyone to remain informed about climate change and what world leaders are doing about it. With the internet, we not only have access to such information, but we also have a mechanism to voice our concern on the matter and implore our leaders to take it seriously. This was an enlightening trip, and I now believe this demonstration and others like it to be crucial to provoking real change in our approach to ecological issues.