Students and concerned individuals around the world celebrated a second Mother’s Day for the Global Day of Action, a direct-action protest of the environment and its management.
On Sept. 20, 2019, activists around the world organized climate rallies. Colorado Mesa University’s (CMU) Sustainability Council coordinated a climate rally on campus. Later meeting up with other members of the Grand Junction community in Lincoln Park, the protests composed of signs, speeches and booths.
The rally included Western Colorado Alliance, Grand Valley Students United, Sustainability Council and the Wilderness Society. This rally was the first time every environmental organization on the Western Slope has come together for an event and more than 300 people showed up.
The student event started at 4 p.m. in CMU’s Plaza, and had music put on by the university’s KMSA radio station. Dancing with signs and giving chants and Vice President of Sustainability Council, Ian Thomas, gave a short speech.
When discussing humanity’s impact on the environment, Thomas said, “We have charged forward without consideration of the future, without first asking the question, can we keep doing this forever?”
An hour into the protest, CMU students walked together to the rally for the general public in Lincoln Park.
Sierra Hoyd, a Fruita Monument High School student, was the first guest speaker at the general public’s strike. As a part of Grand Valley Students United, Hoyd emphasized the responsibility of youth in environmental activism.
Thomas does not want youth to be sad about the state of the planet. He wants them to get mad. “Those who have stayed in line never got anything done,” Thomas said.
A recent engineering graduate from CMU, Aiden Murphy, also spoke at the climate strike. Murphy encouraged people to be more involved in STEM classes and more active on social media to spread awareness about the environment.
All the different organizations, guest speakers, and rally participants involved in the West Slope Climate Rally hope that environmental awareness will continue to grow even after the Global Day of Action is over.
