Small thanks for great steps | ||||||
October 2, 2014 Dear Activist, On Sunday, September 21st, we made history. 400,000 people took to the streets of Manhattan and we were there. We marched with folks from New York, to Los Angeles, the Bay Area and beyond carrying our beautiful banners and our cry that War is Not Green! We were joined by thousands more in cities and towns throughout the US and across the globe in over 160 countries. On the Monday following the Climate March a number of us participated in #FloodWallStreet. During this sit-in on Broadway, at the base of New York City's Financial District, voices could be heard repeating the melody “The people gonna rise like the water, we're gonna' calm this crisis down, I hear the voice of my great-granddaughter, saying 'shut down Wall Street now.” This refrain not only calls on us to hold power holders accountable, but to take action and ask ourselves 'what's next?' How do we do work now to save the world for generations to come? From Brazil to Kyoto to the many other negotiated treaties, we've seen that no symbolic tweaking or small scale creation of green jobs or tax incentives will reverse or even halt the traumatic effects pollution and predatory consumption of our natural resources have on our environment. We also know that we must continue the work of creating awareness and building action to hold accountable the United States Military, one of the most egregious and unregulated polluters. While dumping toxic waste and burning through 320,000 tons of oil a day, the Department of Defense continues to seek and receive exemptions from existing regulations meant to protect endangered species, clean air, and clean water. These exemptions acquired under the guise of 'national security' allow the US Military to continue to threaten the security of life on our planet. Thank you for joining us in taking this step toward saving the world. The next step is in our hands. To ensure that the march was not just an event, but an opportunity, we must ask ourselves what next? How will we keep the pressure on? We must share our stories. Each of our stories. Every one of us experienced that Sunday in the streets from our own perspective, and in ways that were varied and meaningful. We invite you to send in your stories and photos sharing your experience. Once aggregated we’ll add them to CODEPINK's Climate March webpage. In reflection we shape our future. In sharing we build our community. In action we save our world. Toward a greener (and pinker!) world,
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