MNN - Mother Nature Network

This week my bedazzled, painted and dancing activist friends gathered to raise awareness about the dangers, and lies behind the concept of clean coal technology. We worked in solidarity with thousands of activists across the country who held actions on Fossil Fools Day (April 1!), raising awareness about the terrors of fossil fuel mining and usage. Dressed as a plethora of scary and silly creatures we distributed literature about clean coal and mountain top removal, as the latter is an extremely tragic issue happening in the backyard of our commonwealth. Parading through campus, some gave out fact-flyers and some kept the energy flowing with chants like “Tell me what democracy looks like …This is what democracy looks like!”

 

We were received with over-whelming warmth from our student community, and even those that didn’t agree with our statement were gentle. This was the first on-campus action we committed to this semester and we are pumped to do more. We learned so much about the importance of organizational skills, task delegation and extensive background research on the subject at hand. Though some people thought our wild rumpus was not the most effective way to reach the public, we found that it really caught their attention.

 

Over all, I’m extremely pleased with the seeds of activism that are sprouting here. As activists, we take particular care to not only work together, but to play together. The biggest thing I have learned this semester is that your community is the biggest sustaining factor in your energy for creating change. Because my group of activist buddies is committed to expressing our love, our fear, our creativity and even our silliness, we are growing a beautiful movement.

 

I’d love to write more but I just got back from our Sunday night potluck and I’m warm, sleepy and full of Indian Curry! Time to hit the organic-buckwheat-handmade-mattress and dream of the radishes my roommate and I will grow in our garden. Last night I dreamt of big, blue-grey mountains in the fog. If I didn’t love this earth so much, I’d pack up and move to dreamland.

 

Chao for now!

-Hannah

 

Photos: Jacob Hill