Don't Just Do Something -- Sit There.
Then Do Something!
Notes on The People's Climate March
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
―Martin Luther King Jr.
After coffee, a bit of breakfast, and a bit of last minute packing, we were in the car, driving an hour to Greenfield to join 52 other folks on a charter bus for the long drive to New York City. Clusters of folks wielding placards, backpacks and coffee cups were already in the Big Y parking lot as we arrived, somewhere on Mr. Sandman's side of 6 AM.
A few moments later, a whoop went up as a bus appeared, gleaming in the eerie lights of the parking lot. Then a bit of confusion emerged as another coach arrived. Then another. Then another. It seems that there were two buses full of People's Climate Marchers making a pit stop en route from Brattleboro, VT and another bus that would also depart from Greenfield now in the parking lot. I was also aware that a couple of my 108 Housemates were traveling on yet another bus, one of several, leaving from UMass-Amherst a few miles to the south. As the heroic bus captains sorted it out and we climbed aboard, I thought, "This is going to be big!"
I had no idea. Big was an understatement.
Although the first reports of the mainstream media attempted to downplay the numbers with headlines like "Thousands gather.......", by evening it was obvious. Even the stridently right wing Fox News conceded that upwards of 310, 000 people had gathered on the streets of New York City, other accounts had it upwards of 400, 000. With another estimated 200, 000 participating in events in other locations throughout the world, the Peoples Climate March was the largest environmental demonstration in history.
For me, the most striking moments of an long, long day filled with striking moments began at 12:58 PM when, as planned, the multicolored river of humanity that stretched for miles through the streets of Manhattan went totally silent. Amazingly, nobody had to say "hush". The sounds of silence itself swept over us -- in an instant. What had in one moment been a exuberant throng of drumming and chanting and singing and whooping climate marchers was now a Silent Presence. In the distance a solitary siren wailed momentarily, a fitting reminder of the situation which we are facing on this planet. Then, it too disappeared, embraced by the Stillness.
In those moments the One Love was obvious. In that Silent Presence, the Heart of our concern for this planet and all its miraculous beings beat as One.
Then, at 1 PM, hundreds of thousands of human voices and church bells and drums and musical instruments erupted with a resounding roar. With the speed and power of a bolt of lightning, sweeping uptown like a tsunami of sound and energy, that roar cascaded up Central Park West lifting the throng of us gathered at 86th Street into the One Voice that had emerged.
Though wordless, the message was clear: It is time. Our Planet must be Healed.
(READ MORE)
Although the first reports of the mainstream media attempted to downplay the numbers with headlines like "Thousands gather.......", by evening it was obvious. Even the stridently right wing Fox News conceded that upwards of 310, 000 people had gathered on the streets of New York City, other accounts had it upwards of 400, 000. With another estimated 200, 000 participating in events in other locations throughout the world, the Peoples Climate March was the largest environmental demonstration in history.
For me, the most striking moments of an long, long day filled with striking moments began at 12:58 PM when, as planned, the multicolored river of humanity that stretched for miles through the streets of Manhattan went totally silent. Amazingly, nobody had to say "hush". The sounds of silence itself swept over us -- in an instant. What had in one moment been a exuberant throng of drumming and chanting and singing and whooping climate marchers was now a Silent Presence. In the distance a solitary siren wailed momentarily, a fitting reminder of the situation which we are facing on this planet. Then, it too disappeared, embraced by the Stillness.
In those moments the One Love was obvious. In that Silent Presence, the Heart of our concern for this planet and all its miraculous beings beat as One.
Then, at 1 PM, hundreds of thousands of human voices and church bells and drums and musical instruments erupted with a resounding roar. With the speed and power of a bolt of lightning, sweeping uptown like a tsunami of sound and energy, that roar cascaded up Central Park West lifting the throng of us gathered at 86th Street into the One Voice that had emerged.
Though wordless, the message was clear: It is time. Our Planet must be Healed.
(READ MORE)