iMatter Youth NC March for Our Planet – Photo courtesy of Facebook
IndyWeek Article – Written by Bob Geary
Start with what you love. Susannah Tuttle said that to me on Saturday, and it was perfect for the moment. I loved the bluegrass festival in Raleigh and the way it lifted our spirits. I loved the crowds and everyone smiling, even the guy with the T-shirt that seemed to say “Ban Guns,” though on closer inspection, with the small print visible, it said “Ban Government, Not Guns.”
Oh well, we both loved banjo music.
I broke away from the festival in the afternoon and strode up to the state government mall for the iMatter rally. I loved that too. The iMatter Youth NC March for Our Planet was led by Hallie Turner, 11, who dates her activism on climate change to a dinnertime conversation with her parents—and a subsequent visit to the library where she read Al Gore’s book An Inconvenient Truth—at age 9. Hallie’s on the leadership council of Kids vs. Global Warming, a campaign that started in Canada. Its purpose, she said: “Get the message out there that we have to take action now and not wait for our leaders to act.”
Ride a bicycle, Hallie said. Plant a tree. Live as if the future matters—”because if everybody starts making these small changes, it’s going to build up and build up, and that’s what the movement is about.”
If you fear for the Earth’s chances against a global economy running on fossil fuels, invite Hallie Turner to speak to your group. You’ll have new hope.
About 100,000 people were in downtown Raleigh, and only 100 of them participated in the march, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in enthusiasm. After a brisk walk around the State Capitol, they spread out on the mall, young and old, and frolicked on the lawn to the beat of drums and music under a clear blue sky. What could be better?
That’s when Tuttle, who runs the Interfaith Power & Light program for the N.C. Council of Churches, talked about her efforts to forge ties between environmentally conscious faith leaders and the conservative Republicans legislators.
Read the complete article in www.IndyWeek.com
