Today – Extinction Rebellion London Calling
November 17, 2018 by Extinction Rebellion
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Bridges: Southwark (+447979971209 / +447974823052), Blackfriars (+447549766448
+447958267786) , Waterloo (+447966468459 / +447715962999), Westminster (+447878535968 / +4479047357749), Lambeth (+447736156214)
NEW – The Extinction Rebellion Climate Factsheet for Rebels https://rebellion.earth/the-climate-factsheet-for-rebels/
- Thousands of concerned citizens will today block Southwark, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster and Lambeth bridges to raise the alarm on the climate and ecological crisis
- An Extinction Assembly will feature six voices from six nations affected by climate breakdown including Raki Ap of Free West Papua Campaign, Rumana Hashem of Phulbari Solidarity Group (Bangladesh) as well as representatives from Ecuador, Kenya, Ghana and Mongolia
- Speakers and musicians include the representative for Island States in the UN Farhana Yamin, Green Party politician Jenny Jones, academic and politician Rupert Read, Molly Scott Cato MEP, the One World Choir, female-fronted funk band Psychedelephant, Georgina Duncan, Greg Sanders Ensemble jazz band, reggae music from Pedro and the Simple Revolution, poet and singer Pete the Temp and musician Katherine Abbott, Hapi and the Lost Species, plus Tina Louise Rothery from the anti-fracking Lancashire Nanas
- Protests planned around UK include from Cambridge and Glasgow to Sheffield and Totnes, plus large and small symbolic actions around the world in Washington DC and New York (US), Vancouver and Toronto (Canada), Cork, Galway and Dublin in Ireland, Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden plus Melbourne, Australia.
Rebellion Day is here. We will take the London bridges, before we all fall down.
Rebellion Day is the climax of Extinction Rebellion’s first week of civil disobedience against the British Government for its criminal inaction in the face of the climate and ecological emergency which we all face. [1] [2] This week, over 50 people have been willingly arrested. Today, thousands of people descend upon the capital.
“Rebellion Day will disrupt London. It is not a step we take lightly. If things continue as is, we face an extinction greater than the one that killed the dinosaurs. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be a worthy ancestor,” said Tiana Jacout of Extinction Rebellion.
“We represent a huge number of concerned citizens. Scientists, academics, politicians, teachers, lawyers, students, children, parents, and grandparents. But we have no choice. We have tried marching, and lobbying, and signing petitions. Nothing has brought about the change that is needed. And no damage that we incur can compare to the criminal inaction of the UK government in the face of climate and ecological breakdown.”
Extinction Rebellion demands that the UK government immediately tells the truth and declares a climate and ecological emergency, that it reverses inconsistent policies and reduces to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and creates a citizen’s assembly to oversee these changes.
Extinction Rebellion has informed the police and emergency services that Southwark, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster and Lambeth bridges will be blocked.
Take it to the bridge – Gathering at 10am
At 10am, protestors will occupy five bridges in central London: Southwark, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster and Lambeth. They will come together, share food, and bear witness to the real effects of climate breakdown.
There will be guest speakers, live music, and communal points of reflection and pause. Throughout the day, members of the crowd will be invited to share their own thoughts and feelings about the climate crisis and how to deal with it.
Across the UK, there will be solidarity actions in Cambridge, Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Totnes and more. The London protest will also be marked by a range of small and large symbolic and civil disobedience actions in a number of cities around the world including Washington DC and New York in the US, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, Cork, Galway and Dublin in Ireland, Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden plus Melbourne, Australia. [6]
Music, performers and Speakers on the bridges
There will be many speakers that move across all five bridges, including activists from the global South who will bear witness to the effects of climate breakdown in their home countries.
Raki Ap, spokesperson of Free West Papua Campaign, who will be there said:
“Because of the greedy interests of multinationals and governments, the papuans live without freedom, in oppression and face a destroyed environment. And now they also threaten to destroy our planet, which is why we stand in solidarity with the activists against climate change.” [3]
Each bridge has its own programme of performers and speakers including:
- Southwark Bridge: the female-fronted funk band Psychedelephant, the One World Choir, musician Georgina Duncan, the Greg Sanders Ensemble jazz band
- Blackfriars Bridge: poet and singer Pete the Temp, musician Katherine Abbott, reggae music from Pedro and the Simple Revolution
- Waterloo Bridge: Tina Louise Rothery of the Nanas from Lancashire, Bangladesh Solidarity plus performance poet Danny Chivers
- Westminster Bridge: Green Party politician Jenny Jones, representative for Island States in the UN Farhana Yamin, folk group Bob Hillary and the Massive Mellow
- Lambeth Bridge: Molly Scott Cato MEP, academic and politician Rupert Read, Hapi and the Lost Species and their songs about extinction
2pm Extinction Assembly in Parliament Square
Having done a tour of all five bridges, from around 2pm in Parliament Square, an Extinction Assembly will feature six important voices from six nations affected by climate breakdown: West Papua, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Kenya, Ghana and Mongolia.
The invited global South guests will bear witness to what is happening in their countries and then there will be any opportunity for members of the public to speak about why they themselves are there. The third part of the assembly will ask attendees ‘How do you think societies should be organised to create a world for our children?’
Rumana Hashem, co-ordinator of Phulbari Solidarity Group, a transnational activist group that represents communities within the Phulbari region of Bangladesh in opposing the plans for a large-scale open-cast mine in the region, said:
“The ongoing civil disobedience to decarbonise our lifestyle and to our planet from criminal extractive companies and governments was long- overdue. I am bearing witness to the killings of people and destruction of green land, rivers and homes of peaceful people in Bangladesh, perpetrated by a British mining company since 2006.
“This Rebellion Day is, to me, a beginning of a much needed social movement that not only challenges the criminal inaction of the ecocidal governments but also a way to connect with each other over struggles in the global South and the global North to make our planet habitable for all.” [4]
4pm Parliament Square – Extintion Magis: A Grief Ritual for Rebellion
At sunset on Rebellion Day witches and magicians responding to the cry of the Earth will lead a ritual for healing in Parliament Square. They say: “It is in times of apparent powerlessness that peoples throughout history have rediscovered ancient techniques of infinite potential.”
NOTES:
- The Extinction Rebellion Climate Factsheet for Rebels https://rebellion.earth/the-climate-factsheet-for-rebels/
- About Extinction Rebellion
Time has almost entirely run out to address the ecological crisis which is upon us, including the 6th mass species extinction and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices, with human extinction also a possibility, if rapid action is not taken.
Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by its Government.
Extinction Rebellion’s topline demands:
- The Government must admit the truth about the ecological emergency, reverse all policies inconsistent with addressing climate change, and work alongside the media to communicate with citizens
- The Government must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels
- A national Citizen’s Assembly must be created, to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose.
Declaration of Rebellion: https://rebellion.earth/declaration/
- Free West Papua campaign https://www.freewestpapua.org
- Phulbari Solidarity Group https://phulbarisolidaritygroup.wordpress.com
- About RisingUp
The RisingUp network promotes a fundamental change of our political and economic system to one which maximises well-being and minimises harm. Change needs to be nurtured in a culture of reverence, gratitude and inclusion; whilst the tools of civil disobedience and direct action are used to express our collective power.
Website http://www.risingup.org.uk/; facebook https://www.facebook.com/RisingUpUK/; twitter https://twitter.com/RisingUpUK
- Extinction Rebellion marker events around the world
United States
Washington DC
Date: 17/11
Place: Trump Hotel
Event: Solidarity Banner blocking traffic in front of Trump Hotel
Date: 12/2
Place: TBD
Event:March to the Capitol building to bring our demands to Congress
Link: FB: Facebook
New York, NY
Date: 11/17, 12 noon
Place: Times Square
Canada
Vancouver BC
Date: 17/11, 12 noon
Place: Robson Square
Event: Solidarity Rally
Link: Facebook
Toronto ON
Date: 17/11
Place: 563 Spadina Crescent & University of Toronto
Event: Solidarity rally 1:30 – 2:00 followed by People’s Climate Assembly taking place all day at the University of Toronto
Ireland:
Galway
Date: 17/11
Place: Salthill Promenade
Event: Human chain backs to the sea protecting the oceans.:
Link: Facebook Event
Dublin
Date: 17/11
Place: Dead Zoo
Event: Solidarity Rally
Link: Facebook
Cork
Date: 17/11
Place: Meet at 1.30 pm City Hall, then to GPO (Oliver Plunkett St) for 2 pm
Event: A meeting/ceremony to remember and mourn the species that have become extinct
Link: Facebook
Germany
Facebook Page:
Berlin
Event: Small soli-action: Picture involving two people a sign and the landscape
Frankfurt
Event: Small soli-action: 1-2 people leaving flyers and stickers all over the city
Sweden
Stockholm and Gothenburg
Date: 11/17, 1 pm
Event:Smaller solidarity action
Australia
Melbourne
Date: 11/16
Place: Undisclosed location
Event: Inspiring and visually compelling marker event