NEWS

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Seventh graders at Bailey Middle School, (l to r) Della Scott Michael and Pixie Hughett, attended the climate change rally in Charlotte, signs in hand.

by Guest Columnist, Della Scott Michael

On Friday, I attended my first protest. It was in Charlotte, against climate change, and included many climate activists who spoke. It is terrible to see what our earth has become because of us. But it was also incredible to see all the people who care come together and speak out. Yes, seeing Greta was inspirational, but also seeing all of the youth, including kids as young as eight, stand up for what’s right was even more amazing and inspiring.

There were tons of posters that kids were holding. There were funny ones, artsy, serious, and a lot of different ones. They all had one thing in common: they got the message out. The crowd was so supportive of all of the speakers, cheering every time something made them feel strongly or passionately about the topic. I felt empowered as a kid, and I wanted to do more than just be there. The emotion people felt on stage and how they expressed it gave me butterflies.

Climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, spoke to over 700 attendees at the climate change rally at the Government Center in Charlotte on November 8, 2019.

Greta was strong and spoke with a lot of passion. No one else would take it upon herself to help fix this, so she is trying to. She was angry, and her message was loud and clear. This is our earth, and we are destroying it, and adults are not taking steps to fix it. This is a huge problem that older generations have created and now it is not only our problem, but ours to fix. Climate change is an urgent problem that has been going on for too long, but no one seemed to care enough to do something, and now because of that, we only have limited time before it’s irreversible.

Something Mary Ellis Stevens kept saying was, if you want to do something or change something, do it NOW. For example, buy an electric car, go vegan/vegetarian, walk and bike more, use less electricity. Mary Ellis Stevens had been protesting climate change for many weeks here in Charlotte, and she got in touch with Greta over Instagram DMs, and that is how Greta was able to come here. I didn’t decide to go until 8:00 the night before, when my friend texted me and asked me if I wanted to go with her. My parents said it was okay for me to miss school, so we made our signs and made plans to go. It was an opportunity for us to stand for something that I believe in, and maybe learn how we can help make changes that will help the Earth. Overall, it was an amazing experience.