Young, old and Santa march in downtown Durham for action on climate change
Hundreds of mostly young people took to the streets in Durham Friday, saying they can’t wait for politicians to fight climate change.
“Take a second to look around you and see how many people are ready to stand up and fight for a Green New Deal,” Georgette Sordellini said from a small platform in Durham Central Park.
Behind her, a banner read “Sunrise Movement.” In front of her, more than 200 residents of Durham and Chapel Hill, were gathered to protest government’s failure to respond to climate change.
While it was labeled a youth climate strike, the protesters ranged from elementary children all the way up. One sign in the back of the crowd read, “We can be our grandchildren’s’ heroes.”
Another read, “I’m studying for a future that is currently being destroyed.”
Durham Public Schools spokesman Chip Sudderth told The News & Observer he wasn’t aware of any unusual absences Friday.
Speakers gave remarks about being Native Americans and respecting the land, racial equity in the climate-change conversation and investing in regenerative farming. Elijah King from Riverside High School in Durham, evoked a quote from former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, “Only all that we love is on the line.”
While each speaker brought a different perspective to the protest, there was a main focus of the event: The Green New Deal.
The Green New Deal
The Green New Deal was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in February 2017 by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Edward Markey.
The non-binding resolution sets seven goals for the United States, including cutting greenhouse emissions in half and completely switching to renewable energy by 2030. It also includes upgrading infrastructure in the U.S. to be more energy efficient.
Supporters of Democrat presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren attended Friday’s protest. Both of the politicians support the plan, or similar resolutions.
Mary Beth Miller, co-founder of Blue Merle Farm and education coordinator for Carolina Farm Stewardship Association in Pittsboro, told the crowd the legislation they want passed “cannot be a green-washed ... 1930s new deal.”
The New Deal was a group of regulations and public programs that President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted in the 1930s, including Social Security, the Farm Security Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Representatives from Extinction Rebellion, which recently established a local chapter, expressed a more urgent need than legislative resolutions.
Member Martha Pentecost told the News & Observer that instead of relying on the government action, they want citizen-led, participatory democracy. “What we have to do is build loads of people,” she said. The group says that they need 3.5 percent of the North Carolina population, or 363,000 people, to achieve its goals, which include cutting all greenhouse emissions by 2025.
They also plan on creating citizen councils through local government, which Pentecost said would remove lobbying money and campaigning from the process. The group plans on using “non-violent civil disobedience,” including sit-ins and shutting down roads to get its message across.
Songs and Chants
“Day-O, day-O. Earth is calling and we’re listening,” sang protesters as they marched down East Chapel Hill street, a climate change twist on “The Banana Boat Song” by Harry Belafonte.
Music was a large part of the rally. Jason Campos Keck and Crystal Cavalier performed a traditional Choctaw-Apache song at the beginning and the entire group was later led in singing “Does it weigh on you at all?”
Sordellini, who organized the protest, said music is “a really great way to bring people together ... to remember your history and heritages.”
As the group marched through downtown, people banged drums and played guitars. A man in a Santa Claus suit chanted with the crowd, “No more coal! No more oil! Keep our carbon in the soil!” while holding a sign that read “Santa says coal is naughty.”
At some points, members of the group stood in busy intersections so the large crowd could move through, blocking traffic for minutes. Some drivers honked their horns and raised their fists in solidarity.
Sunrise Movement Triangle will be holding an open meeting from 6-9 p.m. Dec. 12 for people to learn more. See the group’s Facebook page for details.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 5:33 PM.
