This Saturday, I went to D.C. for the Climate March on Washington with Cornell. This meant packing our bags (with who knows what- would this rally become another Berkeley?), staying up till 2:00 AM, then boarding a bus with dozens of other sleep-deprived Cornell students.
We got driving around 2:30. The main lights went out in the bus, leaving only the pale green emergency lights to keep the bus from being as dark as the night outside the windows. I rested my head against the pane and got a few winks of sleep here and there, mostly tossing and turning until 9:00 AM when we arrived at our destination.
It was my first time in D.C., and I was, with bittersweet gladness, cognizant it was under strange circumstances. On one hand, I was here to exercise my voice as a student, a scholar, and a citizen. On the other, it was to protest against one of the most controversial men in American history and his denial of what is the most pressing matter of our time: climate change.
I remember sitting in a Green Cities class Fall semester and having a guest lecturer tell us his story. He was a successful consultant for big oil and gas companies until, midway through his career, he had a epiphany and decided to quit his job to tell people about the damage oil/gas was doing. He showed us all the graphs and all the research and ended the lecture with, “This is your generation’s problem. You are the last hope”. I became a vegetarian that week.
Standing there, in front of the White House, with hundreds of thousands of other citizens from around the country was empowering. It gave me hope to think that I was not alone in this fight. That I was not crazy, contrary to what my government would have me believe. Though I was frightened by the current possessors of power, as I looked around at the young crowd, I had no doubt that it was only a matter of time before my generation turned this around.
The hope you have about our generation is truly beautiful. Although the many protests that have taken place in recent months are a good sign, the fact that Donald Trump was still able to be elected president despite our voting power and our voice prior to the election makes me question our future. Also, if we don’t start acting about climate change now, there won’t be a future to be hopeful/hopeless for.
I like your optimism and your acting towards a goal. One of the first people I got to meet at Cornell said she was against eating pork and beef because their being raised contributed majorly to green house gases. Your reason for visiting DC for the first time is strange, but feeling camaraderie with other people about a pressing issue is probably a lot more fulfilling than solely doing tourist related activities.
I think there is a very unique feeling of attending an action that is difficult to describe. Collective action is a tremendously enlightening experience and I have definitely left many feeling a sense of empowerment and motivation to continue contributing to these important movements. One of the most important things about these events is that action does not stop after we show up.
I really agree with you on how our generation is the hope. With different generations failing to see the importance of climate change. I think different generation see us as a ‘hipster’ and ‘weird millennials’ because we chose to place our priority and sight on what they refuse to see. But the success of prevention on climate change is to never back away and fight, constantly questioning and placing doubt to people who think climate change is not true.