To view more photos — and add your own — of UUs at various marches around the country, go here.
To read about UUs at the Chicago march, go here.This past Saturday, UUs were among the 200,000 who marched in the sweltering streets of DC to protest the first 100 days of the new administration, and to show solidarity for climate justice and jobs at the People’s Climate March.
UUs from at least 28 states marched in the Keepers of Faith contingent, which was lined up in between the Defenders of Truth and Re-Shapers of Power to march from in front of the Capitol building. The Uus marched behind trees and a large banner with the words “The Seas are Rising and So Are We,” bounded by a young adult drum corps from the All Souls Church.
When the march reached the White House, protesters surrounded it, hitting their chests to symbolize a common heartbeat, before erupting into a cheer to drown out climate deniers. A rally at the Washington Monument featured a range of rousing speakers.
There was plenty of UU and interfaith organizing full of song, dance and art before and after the march.
Aly Tharp, Network Coordinator for the UU Young Adults for Climate Justice Network, led art-builds on the Wednesday and Thursday before the march at All Souls Church. Folks painted trees, crafted hummingbird puppets, banners, signs and more beautiful imagery to carry in the march. Dinner and a worship followed the Thursday art-build.
Before the march, between 9am and noon, an estimated 300 folks gathered on the street in front of Cafe Fifty-Nine for breakfast, worship and rally with street theatre.
Folks sang along to a rousing rendition of “The Seas Are Rising and So Are We,” led by Ben Grosscup, director of the People’s Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle. The crowd sang and danced along to the verses, “The Seas are rising and so are we/The task is mighty and so are we/The land is holy and so are we/The storm is raging and so are we/The sun is shining and so are we/The world is ready and so are we” with the refrain “This is where we are called to be”.
Ruth Pelham performed another song, about the power of people and courage “for the hard times ahead”.
Photo by Rose Gallogly. |
Photo by Rose Gallogly. |
Sean Page, Community Engagement Coordinator for General Assembly, spoke of the connections between climate change and public health, and the intersectionality of environmental racism.
He read a poem called “Wildfire,” urging the audience to think more about putting the most marginalized first in fighting for climate justice.
Volunteers then performed a story about fire and hope, narrated by Aly. The story was inspired by a Quechan parable of a forest fire and a hummingbird, told by Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
Sean Page reading a poem. Photo by Rose Gallogly. |
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Waving red and yellow fabric, folks acted out a fire consuming a huge forest full of life. All the animals, monkeys, cats and elephants in masks, stood by, scared and startled – until a hummingbird decides to act. The hummingbird, hoisted on a pole with the words “until we are all free,” goes to the nearest stream and takes small droplets of water in its beak to put on the fire.
“But hummingbird, you are so, so small, why would you try to put out a forest fire? That’s absurd!” the elephants said.
And the hummingbird, wasting no time at all, turns to the elephant, and says, “I’m doing the best that I can.”
We should all be like the hummingbird, Maathai says.
“All of us here today can carry that spirit,” Aly said. “Climate change and environmental racism are the fire. And we marching are the hummingbirds. And we’re not alone, there are a lot of hummingbirds.”
There was a huge hummingbird at the end of the march, representing the hope in these actions.
Rev. Eric Martinez helped with the staging and presentation of the contingent. Martinez works with The Sanctuaries DC, a spiritually diverse, social justice and arts organization, which provided a lot of organizing support for the week.
And after the march, about 70 folks enjoyed food, live music and fellowship at the All Souls Church after party from 4-8pm.
The next day, All Souls Church hosted two Sunday services with guest speaker Johnnie Aseron, a member of the Lakota Sioux tribe with the Inter-National Initiative for Transformative Collaboration.
After the service, about 50 folks shared a vegetarian lunch on the lawn of the All Souls Church.
The weekend in DC concluded with a panel and discussion about climate Justice movement building featuring speakers Johnnie Aseron, Robin Lewis from Energy Justice Network, Rev. Karen Brammer of the UUAGreen Sanctuary Program and other speakers.