Q: What’s more challenging than marching ten miles a day for eight days?
A: Organizing the logistics to make such a march possible.
Seriously. Shari Hrdina, Sarah Spain and I have done this before, organizing the coast-to-coast Great March for Climate Action in 2014. Did we learn our lesson? Apparently not. Here we are again, organizing the Climate Justice Unity March reminded on a daily basis just how complex are the logistics of a march of 25 people.
One example: Check out these pictures of our Enviro-Commode/Solar Shower trailer, designed and built by Sean Spain. It would take an hour to tell you just how much planning and work went into putting this beaut together. The best way to get a feel for it is to come use it next week. Toilet paper provided; bring your own towel.
When you figure out the route, find campsites and venues, recruit speakers, contact the press, plan meals and pull together a host of other details, organizing this event is a gargantuan undertaking.
But it’s been worth it. In terms of human and planetary history, we are at a life-and-death moment. Policies being legislated at both the state and federal level will do great harm to our water, land and climate — and those policies will hit low-income communities and poor nations hardest of all.
So we march, talk, listen and break bread with friends and strangers. We bring together people from Iowa’s urban centers with residents of small towns to share food, music and conversation about climate change and related issues.
There’s so much division in America since the last election. But it’s my belief that whether you voted for Trump, Clinton, someone else, or not at all, we all have so much in common. And whether one thinks climate change is caused by humans or is cyclical, there’s a growing consensus that it’s happening and that we need to take action.
Yet little progress will be made if we don’t respect each other and talk about climate change with civility. There’s no better way to jump-start that conversation than with food and music . . . and of course, walking — for those who are up to that part.
So, come join us . . . to march, for the evening program, to try out the commodes, or just to meet the hardy marchers trekking the highway from Millersburg to Des Moines. Check out our Wish List and see if there’s anything we still need that you might have.
Especially, come rally with us and hundreds more on the west steps of the Iowa State Capitol at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, at the People’s Climate March Iowa.
A lot of effort by a lot of people has gone into bringing the Climate Justice Unity March to fruition. I’d especially like to thank Heather Pearson, who’s been an energetic addition to our core organizing squad. Heather plans to march six days next week. She takes a break to travel to Calhoun County to stand trial for her non-violent action against the pipeline last fall. Please join her at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 26 in Rockwell City, Iowa. Click here for further details.