4th of July Climate Protest
Yesterday, July 4th, a group of Climate NOW members entered the Larkspur 4th of July Parade. A group of about 20 people marched, holding signs saying ‘Denial is Not a Policy’ and ‘CO2 is in the Air’.
Before the parade began, we met congressman, Jared Huffman. He was very excited and enthusiastic about Climate NOW.
Marching in the Parade
The parade started off slow and not many people seemed enthusiastic about the impending crisis were telling them about. Still, as we walked on, some people cheered and clapped for us. Others joined us in our many chants of “Hey hey, ho ho, climate change has got to go” and “climate change is not a lie, do not let our planet die”.
In fact, in the middle of the parade, we had a group of people join us in our protest. It gave me hope to see that people cared about what we were saying, that we weren't just another group, that we were a group of young people taking a stand on what we believed in.
Takeaways
The fact that people saw us were inspired by what we were doing gave me hope. It made me realize no matter how many people ignore climate change or don’t take action, there are still people who are taking a stand in this important issue. As Sarah Goody, founder of Climate NOW, said, to fix this we need personal, political, and systematic change.
My takeaway from this protest is that one person might not be able to change everything, but one person can share what they know and find others who also want to make a change. Together, we as a group can make a change and impact, just like we did yesterday in the parade. One person may not be able to change a system, but they can change themselves and hope others follow in their footsteps.
I can’t make anyone change their mind about how they feel, all I can do is speak and hope people will listen. Yesterday in the parade, Climate NOW made an impact. Hopefully, people listened and will go home and help spread the word. I encourage you, educate yourself on the climate crisis, educate others, even tiny steps make a difference.