Debbie and I were proud to attend the Global Climate Strike on September 20, 2019. The strike was organized by young people in the Sunrise Movement and other organizations such as the Sierra Club and 350.org. Greta Thunberg is the spiritual leader of the entire movement, and she is everyone's environmental heroine.
When we first heard of the strike, we made plans to attend the New York City one. Greta would be in attendance, so it promised to be a moving experience. But when local events became organized as well, we decided to attend the Cleveland strike. Although I'm sure we missed a lot of excitement in the Big Apple, the Cleveland one was just fine for us.
We arrived at noon with our signs, and immediately joined a rather small crowd marching around Public Square and chanting. We all stopped when the speakers began, and at that point, the crowd began to build. After a while, a good portion of Public Square was filled with protesters.
I was particularly impressed that many of the great speakers, not to mention the organizers and the protesters were quite young. Many were high school and college students.
And that's the entire point: adults have nearly entirely destroyed the planet's ecosystem. Young people, who will inherit the earth, need to become the catalysts for change. And so they are. And since those of us in my generation have also proved incapable of correcting our madness, maybe the kids can. We only need to stay out of their way.
That's what Debbie and I are doing. Being supportive in every way we know. But we also know we can't be the leaders of the movement. That ship has sailed. We are happy to follow those most affected. And those most enthusiastic.
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