Worldwide Climate Rally and Strike September 20, 2019

Today, September 20, 2019 over 2,800 actions took place over the world, which aim to “disrupt business as usual in order for people to know that this is a really serious moment,” says rally co-organizer Ashley McDermott, who also heads the Asheville chapter of the national Sunrise Movement (Asheville Climate Rally).

This was the largest climate march ever. According to the environmental group, 350.org, four million people participated worldwide including 300,000 in New York. Before the huge Manhattan crowd, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg said, “Our house is on fire. We demand a safe future. Is it too much to ask?” (New York March).

Mika Baumeister Unsplash

This Monday, September 23^rd is the United Nations Climate Summit and on September 21^st is the first UN Youth Climate Summit. The United States will not be represented as we pulled out of the Paris Accords, unfortunately. Greta Thunberg will be speaking at the UN, representing her group, Fridays for Future, and continuing to be a shining example, inspiring other youth to take action on global warming since she believes adults are not doing much to prevent a climate disaster.

It is hard to argue with her logic. She is confused that in the United States, science is disparaged by some leaders, and it is debated. In Sweden, from which she comes, climate change is considered a scientific factual reality, and is not debated. 

If we don’t listen to the youth leading the climate movement, and if e continue to go on with our lives with our heads in the sand, ignoring global warming, melting of polar ice, escalating frequency and severity of storms, dying of the oceans, burning of the Amazon and other forests, extinction of thousands of animal species every year, loss of animal habitat, rising of the oceans, flooding of coastal areas, parching of once verdant earth, and on and on, what will become of us? What will become of the earth on which we depend for our very existence?

Let’s all take the earth pledge and then live by it. Let us cherish, honor, and take care of  our Earth Mother.

Pledge to the Earth

I pledge allegiance to the Earth

And to all life it nourishes:

All growing things, all species of animals,

 all races and genders of people.

I promise to protect all life on our planet.

To live in harmony with nature.

And to share our resources justly.

So that all people can live with dignity.

In good health and in peace.

What Role Can Men Play in Promoting Gender Equality?

Samantha Sophia Unsplash

Gender equality is often seen as a woman’s issue. Yet gender equality for women is good for men as well as women. I’m listing here a few steps that men can take to become allies to women in our struggle for gender equality.

1.    Acknowledge male privilege. Since men were born into a system in which men hold power and women are mostly excluded from it, they tend not to realize the benefits they are getting just from being born a male. A man who transitioned to a woman was amazed at what he was expected to endure as a woman that he does not have to put up with now as a man. 26-year-old Alex Poon, a Wellesley graduate, who transitioned from being a female to a male said, “Recently, I’ve been noticing the difference between being perceived as a woman versus being perceived as a man. I’ve been wondering how I can strike the right balance between remembering how it feels to be silenced and talked over with the privileges that come along with being perceived as a man.” Crossing the Divide

2.    Become allies with women. Simply not displaying male superiority is not enough. Women need men to be allies against all forms of discrimination and abuse. If someone catcalls a woman, call him down. If a man mansplains to a woman, point it out and expose it as demeaning to her. If women are not given proper scope to express their voices, advocate for them with other men.

3.    Challenge toxic masculinity. Don’t buy into stereotypes in which men have to be tough and cannot express their feelings. Become positive role models for other men, to show that caring for ourselves and the well being of others is not just a feminine trait. Listen more than you talk. Encourage boys to respect girls and treat them with kindness and fairness rather than feeling they have to make them into conquests to prove themselves. Girls everywhere are undervalued, undermined, and underestimated.

4.    Help transform power dynamics and support women taking the lead Men often fear that the empowerment of girls and women will mean losing some of their own status, but equality benefits us all. For example, distribution of child care and domestic tasks in the home encourages more satisfying and happy relationships. In the labor force, greater equality leads to better levels of production and satisfaction. Promoting women and girls’ leadership will create positive change in the whole community. Gender equality is not only a human right, but it is the foundation upon which we can build a better, more sustainable world.  We need both men and women fighting together to build an equal, inclusive, progressive society. Are you with us, men?

Pledge to the Earth

I was pleasantly surprised early Friday morning when I heard my elementary school students reciting "The Pledge to the Earth" instead of "The Pledge of Allegiance." I thought perhaps my ears were deceiving me, but then I noticed a huge poster propped up on the whiteboard with words to this Earth pledge. It was exciting! When I substitute teach, at the start of each school day, when the pledge is broadcast over the PA system, I  do not repeat it. I have been refusing to repeat this patriotic pledge decades before NFL football star, Colin Kaepernick and his '49ers teammate Eric Reid, starting taking a knee during the National Anthem played at NFL games. 

The Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United State of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Francis Bellamy, 1892, socialist minister) 

The words, 'under God' were added by the direction of President Eisenhower, to counter what he believed was the communist threat. Rev. Bellamy's daughter objected, but to no avail.

Not saying the Pledge of Allegiance and not standing for the National Anthem is essentially the same issue. I no longer believe that the U.S. government is upholding human values, much as Kaepernick wished to call attention to the racism and police brutality practiced in the U.S., which is inconsistent with values stated in the National 
Anthem.

Kaepernick and Reid Protesting Racism

 Kaepernick has pretty much been blackballed by the NFL, not being picked up to play in 2017 and subsequent years. His protest has been misconstrued as unpatriotic by the President, some NFL coaches and others. He wasn't protesting the flag and national anthem. He was using his social platform to protest police brutality and the lack of accountability of the justice system toward African Americans.  Healthy protest should be encouraged, not punished. 

I feel a bit apprehensive every time my students watch me as I am silent when I am supposed to be leading them in the "Pledge of Allegiance." I hope I don't get reported to any school administration for my lack of acquiescence to this practice. So far, so good. I am waiting for a student to ask me why I don't recite the pledge. That could be a tricky question to answer.

Here is the "Pledge to the Earth" written by teachers at a school here in Asheville, North Carolina. I added the "and genders" part.

Pledge to the Earth

I pledge allegiance to the Earth

And to all life it nourishes:

All growing things, all species of animals, 

All races and genders of people.

I promise to protect all life on our planet.

To live in harmony with nature.

And to share our resources justly.

So that all people can live with dignity.

In good health and in peace.

Ricardo Resende Unsplash

I love this new pledge. I can get behind it. It is based on neohumanism, a theory which includes all people, plants, animals, and the environment in one interconnected whole, the circle of life. It's a pledge every person in the world could take. I hope we all do. Yay, Mother Earth!