Photo courtesy of Ana Ostrovsky.
When I first saw the poster in Larrabee’s hallway for a local climate strike, I immediately took a picture to save the date. Being in the Conn bubble, sometimes I lose track of national and global news —I hadn’t even heard of the proposed Climate Strike until I learned about the one happening in New London.
The New London Climate Strike was a part of a global Climate Strike organized by young activist Greta Thunberg from Sweden. She called for students to strike in protest of government and business inaction over climate change. Over 150 countries scheduled events for September 20th drawing over 1.7 million people — making it the largest climate mobilization in history.
According to The Day, over 200 people gathered at Parade Plaza at State Street. I talked to Emma Furgeson ‘21, who was there when it began. She went with a group of her friends from Conn at 4 p.m. There were Conn students as well as New London community members at the strike. The signs held by younger protestors usually emphasized their future —or lack thereof —due to inaction regarding climate change. One sign said, “Time to grow up adults. Climate change is real.”
Some New London organizations were also present. Among the organizations were the St. James Episcopal Church, FRESH New London, the New London Green Party, and members of the Pequot tribe. Members of the St. James church handed out flyers to an upcoming meeting on October 10th for a Caring for the Creation Committee about religion and climate change.
Furgeson said everyone gathered in the Parade Plaza was extremely friendly, which was also my experience when I arrived. It wasn’t super organized, but Conn students would usually started a chant, like, “Who’s future? Our future! Who’s planet? Our planet!” while everyone else joined in. There wasn’t any marching, but instead everyone stood at Parade Plaza and waved signs at passing cars. Furgeson recalled that one of her friends wanted to block the intersection as a part of the demonstration, but they were not confident that they would have enough people to pull it off. Overall, it was an energizing experience. “It’s an adrenaline rush,” said Furgeson. “You’re with these people and standing with them for a common cause. I feel so supported by that community.”
Although it was advertised to go until 7 p.m., the crowd was shrinking by the time I arrived. When I got there around 5 o’clock, the rally had gone from 200 people to around 50 people. The energy was still there though.
There was a group of around 15 to 20 Conn students remaining with signs on the side of the road, chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, fossil fuels have got to go!” Cars would honk when passing by the intersection to show their support.
By the time I left around 6 p.m, it was a much smaller and quieter crowd.
Some Conn students did not feel inspired to participate in the strike. For example, Zack Garvin ‘21 said that he did not feel that rallies were useful for making change. His advice? “If you want to change the world, go sit alone and think. Don’t hold signs and yell next to people.” A lack of transportation also limited the amount of students who were able to participate. The college did not provide any transportation to the event. Moreover, despite their interest, students from other institutions also found it difficult to get there. Indeed, according to a Mitchell College student, his peers also found it hard to get transportation to the event. However, some students found support from faculty. For example, one student was able to leave her ecology lab early because her professor thought the strike was more important.
Across the globe, climate strikes took a different shape and form. Interestingly enough, most strikes around the world were advertised to begin at noon, while the New London strike began at 4 p.m Therefore, students did not actually have to skip class to attend the “strike.” In New York, the city said that the 1.1 million students in their public schools could skip to attend the march without penalty, but only with proof of parental consent.
Overall, the Global Climate Strike on September 20th appeared to be successful, with over 4,500 locations participating. Thunberg has been skipping school in protest every Friday since August 2018, and serves as a strong force in the youth climate change movement. Other prominent youth activists advocating for the environment are Quannah Chasinghorse, a 17 year old from Alaska, Autumn Peltier, 15 years old from Canada, and Helena Gualinga, 17 years old from Ecuador.
Although the New London climate strike may not have been as populated as the gatherings in New York City or other major cities, there was still a strong sense of the community’s passion for the environment. •
