Reflection/Reaction on my first ever march

I’ve never really considered myself to be an activist or someone who gets involved with protests, but participating in The People’s Climate March this past Sunday was a welcome change of pace. Just to see so many people, of all shades, colors and backgrounds coming together with such a sense of purpose and comradery was really overwhelming. Walking down Central Park West and hearing the chants and drums and seeing some outlandish people on either side of the road made me remember the imagery and spirit of Woodstock, although we weren’t covered in mud of course. There was a real sense of union despite so many disparate groups, although I did notice that some people tried to take advantage of the march to promote unrelated agendas in a march that was about climate, not about 9/11 being an inside job or the conflict in Israel. Seeing students from Beacon was refreshing and told me that the march was something that was really targeting young people and getting them concerned about the issue. It was also interesting to read all of the posters and see how people tied capitalism and consumerism into the discussion of the climate. As Won and I reached the end of the march, we were tired, but knew that it was worth seeing all of the sights we saw and experiencing what we did. These are some of the pictures I took, and there is a video of the scene at the end of the march.