On Sept 27, Earth Activists took the streets of Atlanta to protest climate change!
I would consider myself an Earth Activist 100%... I want to share with the world the importance of preserving the resources Mother Nature has given to us. Not only to save our species, but all others on this planet too.
Mass extinction is a natural phenomenon. It has already occurred 6 times since the Earth was created about 4.6 billion years ago. However, the issue now is that humans have exponentially sped up the process.
Scientist began to warn us about climate change in the past few decades but never had scientific proof...it was all theory... At this point, we have scientific proof. We are aware of global warming and climate change and how we affect it.
But, why do some people still not believe it? ...Personally, I think we're scared of change...
Another reason the public as a whole isn't changing is because we rely so much on what everyone else is doing. The purpose of this strike, at least for me, was to make as many people as possible AWARE of current climate issue and let them know what we can do about it.
"You may not care even if you know, but you can't care if you don't know" ~Sylvia Earle
What actually happened?
The original plan for the strike was to block the Marta Station in Buckhead, Atlanta in order to inconvenience people on their way to work and get the conservation message into people's heads... (I never though blocking traffic was a good idea...I was planning on peacefully standing on the sides of the road).
My mother, my sister, my boyfriend, and I took the Marta to the Buckhead station in Atlanta to find only one person on the side of the road... But we saw several cop cars and a detention bus... The lady there let us know that the strike had moved to midtown, and the cops were about to head that way...
We headed to midtown to find nobody again... Trying to keep up with the Extinction Rebellion Facebook page, we wandered around the city looking for commotion. We tried to follow the helicopter we saw, but we were not very successful.
Eventually we decided to ask the police. Seems silly, right? Well, as long as you're not breaking any laws or disturbing the peace, you can't get in trouble. We literally asked them if they new where the strike was happening. They also did not know, but they did tell us they appreciated our message and that we were striking in a peaceful way. They were very nice.
We soon found out that the strike moved to Piedmont Park. Not many people around to inspire but a good place to plan for later in the day. We were surprised by the few amount of people there... We found out that about 50 protesters got arrested within the first 30 minutes of the strike that morning for blocking the road!
They were taking donations for the bail fund because the Extinction Rebellion will get anyone involved with them out of jail. While we were there they had a few speakers and a meditation. They also blessed the Earth. It was really cool to talk to so many people willing to make a change for our planet.
We couldn't stay long after because we had to go to work, so we left around 12pm. On our walk back to the Marta station I was stopped by a few people asking what my signs were about. I told them about the strike, my blog, and how they can get involved. They seemed to be really inspired. It's exciting to know that you can save the planet by spreading awareness!