This past Thursday, a few of my friends and I decided to go to the Youth for Climate March in Brussels after our French class. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Since classes have started, I've seen students at IHECS with their cardboard signs every Thursday but had never seen teh actual march. Honestly not sure HOW I've missed it because we marched all around the city, including right past IHECS.
So. If you haven't heard, there are a couple hundred Youth for Climate marches that have been happening all over Europe every Thursday for a few weeks now. This movement was started by Greta, a16-year old Swedish girl, who has been protesting global warming by skipping school and sitting outside the Swedish Parliament every week. You can learn more by just googling "youth for climate" or you can read about the particular day in Brussels I marched on here. But last week, Greta was marching with us in Brussels, and we got to see/hear her speak at the end of the march!
There were a couple thousand students that came to march last Thursday. Once we started marching, I was never able to see the beginning or the end of the march; there were SO many people marching. Students ranged from younger elementary-aged kids to college kids, and everyone else in between. It looked like entire elementary-aged classes (of only about 10-15 kids) were there, with younger kids marching in bright safety vests all holding on to a rope to not get lost with their teacher. But it was mostly middle- and high school aged and university students there with their friends. Below are 2 pictures I took where you can't see the beginning!
We started at the train station Brussels-Nord and marched all around the city to end at Brussels-Midi about 2 hours later. We didn't start right at 1pm, but the atmosphere, even while waiting, was crazy. Everyone was just so excited to be there! So many chants were going on - whether through yelling, bullhorns, or microphones. The people with posters had ~reused~ an old cardboard box they wrote and drew on, or were carrying flags. Some were super creative and some were really punny and some were honestly kinda weird. I did see a few making fun of Trump. I found it funny that, even in Europe, Trump still comes up.
There were so many catchy chants going on throughout the march. One in French that we were told is translated to "it's hot, it's hot, it's going to be even hotter". Another was "What do we want?" "Climate justice!" "When do we want it?" "NOW!". A third chant was "What is the solution?" "Climate revolution!".
Adults were lined up along the street watching and cheering their support for us, or they were watching from their office windows and balconies and waving to us. Some buildings/companies had signs up on their windows showing their support too. Below is the International Trade Union House supporting the cause, and IHECS showing their support for the cause.
There really are no words to describe how freaking empowering it was - being completely surrounded by students of all ages standing up for wanting a better environment!! I'm hoping to march at least a few more times.
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