LC alums participate in Climate Marches in NYC and Portland

Lewis & Clark alumni marched in New York and Portland last September to draw attention to climate change.  Read about their experiences in their own words and check out the photos in the related content section.

Sarah Jornsay-Silverberg marched in New York City:

“A few thoughts about the People’s Climate March (PCM): I brought about 9 family members and friends with me, all of whom had a fantastic time and left feeling inspired. The march was expected to draw about 100,000 people, but many news sources estimated 400,000+ showed up, which is incredible in and of itself. What I found to be most exciting was the wide range of voices and causes represented. If you take a look at the “narrative” the march followed, you’ll see that the representation ranged from indigenous and frontline communities, to labor groups, to socialists, to pacifists, to Buddhists (and so many more!)—an element I thought really highlighted the gravity and far reaching global impacts of the climate crisis. I’ve always found the no-one-is-excepted-from-the-impacts (not even wealthy oil execs) approach to demanding climate action to be very powerful. 

 My favorite groups that I walked with were the Bike Bloc and the Mother Gaia groups. The Bike Bloc had great musicians playing with them and had a whole choreographed routine that they performed with their bikes! They also made a huge dinosaur out of disposable oil and gas cans (see attached photo gallery). The Mother Nature/Mother Gaia group was also a very musical group, and within seconds of joining them (toward the end of the march on 11th Ave.), I was swept up in a song and dance circle that sang, “The earth is alive, she is not for sale. If the people work together, we will prevail!”

 One last thing I really appreciated about the participants was their energy and interest in getting to know their fellow marchers. I engaged in conversation with almost everyone I walked with, and I was shocked to see how far people traveled to be a part of it (including me! I flew in from San Francisco). There were people of all ages, races, religions, and walks of life, and it felt like a true representation of the “global citizen” that’s suffering as a consequence of living on a planet in distress.”

Lori Ann Burd told us she marched with her co-workers from the Center for Biological Diversity in Portland. “We marched for the millions of plants and animals threatened with extinction as a result of human caused climate changed, for the millions of people whose lives have already been irreparably harmed by climate catastrophes, and in solidarity with the millions of people throughout the world who stood up on September 21, 2014 and said, ‘enough is enough’.”