"Hey hey ho ho, fossil fuels have got to go!"and "What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now!"are only a few things the hundreds of thousands of people were chanting on September 22 at the 2014 People's Climate March in New York City including moi.. me!
I have to say I was shocked to see how many people showed up for this amazing event! It really gave me a new respect for humanity that I have never had before. You could really feel the power and energy flowing through every single person there! It was beautiful.
This march was by far the largest climate march in history. An estimated 400,000 people participated in the march, but to me it felt like a lot more. We started marching in the middle of the crowed and by the time we had walked about thirty blocks we could see from a big TV screen that there was still a gigantic wave of people who were still only at the beginning; a few thousand or so! Again, I was thunderstruck by how many people showed up for this thing! People from around the world, as far away as South Africa and India, came to be a part of this world wide intervention, but it wasn't just in the US. The TV screens also showed the marches going on all around the world!
Before the march I felt pretty small. I felt that I didn't have a say in what happens to my planet, my life. I also didn't have much hope for humanity. I thought that no one else cared. Then I went to The Peopls' Climate March in New York City, and that all changed. I realized that my voice was important, that one person can make a change. I realized that people do care and that they also want to help change the world for the better.
Many people were active in the march but the one particular group that I thought was most important was the youth. The youth play a big role in stopping climate change. You know why? Because the young people of today are the future and if they don't get involved now then there will be no future.
Before I went to the march I went to a youth convergence and was excited to see how many people, ranging around the ages of 13 to 20, were pumped to stop climate change and help the world become a more eco-friendly place. One person who really stuck out to me though was a 14-year-old activist named Xuitezcatl Martinez. Martinez is the Youth Director of an organization he founded called the "Earth Guardians", an orgnization that works to protect the environment, not just locally, but internationally. As of now they have Earth Guardian Crews operating in five different continents. He is also a hip-hop artist. Martinez and his younger brother incorporate their message of environmental conservation into their music as a way to connect with the youth of this generation. Martinez knew, at a young age, that he wanted to protect the Earth. He educated himself on topics such as fracking in order to understand the problems so he could create solutions. Martinez is living proof that young people have the power to create change.
When I was at the youth convergence I listened to the different views and opinions of everyone around me. At one point we were in this one break-out session were we split up into groups. I felt very inspired when I heard all of these diffrent ideas on how we can make a difference in the world. Even though I was nervous, I contributed some of my own opinions and ideas to the group. It really was empowering.
I know it is a difficult concept, but our world is dying and in order to save Mother Earth we need to take action. The climate march was exciting and I really think the world is aware of the condition our world is in, but now we need to take the next step. What needs to be done to stop climate change? How can we create a world in which we don't rely on fossil fuels and factories? The answer, the solution, resides in the people.
