By Sophie Khanna, Staff Writer
On October 29, four Bryn Mawr students and I traveled to Washington, D.C. on a last minute trip, in hopes of turning political and public attention towards the lack of government response to California wildfires. We joined the Sunrise Movement in D.C, a youth-led climate activist group activist group that includes students from across the country, as a part of their event: the Sunrise Movement Sit-In.
On November 23, 2018 Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York’s 14th Congressional District joined Sunrise for a sit-in hosted at democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi’s office. Over 250 people joined this sit-in, demanding a Green New Deal and petitioning for democratic politicians to reject fossil fuel industry donations. This year, the Sunrise Movement is fighting for speaker Pelosi to cosponsor the Green New Deal (GND) and California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein to support the GND.
We joined students from George Washington University and other members of the Sunrise Movement on Wednesday and sang our way into the Capitol. The group was divided into those afraid of arrest and those who wanted to get arrested as a symbol of protest. Many protesters spoke about how arrest was a perfect way to publicize the climate crisis and show politicians and the public that this is a serious issue the public wants to solve. There is a power in the number of arrests in the eyes of the media.
In Senator Feinstein’s office, our first stop, a student from GW from the San Francisco area gave a speech. Following the speech, the crowd chanted “which side are you on?” as loud as possible which prompted the police to come. The Sunrise Movement police liaison came and spoke with the police. We left Senator Feinstein’s office as quietly as possible but with adrenaline rushing through our veins. Next, the crowd visited Speaker Pelosi’s office. The group who wanted to get arrested went in first and started their speeches and songs. Some of the non-arrestable group soon joined. Speaker Pelosi’s office was full of students and power. In the end, twenty-one people were arrested for singing in the Capitol building hallway and blocking the entrance of Speaker Pelosi’s office.
Unfortunately, not many news outlets covered the sit-in, probably due to heavy media coverage on the impeachment hearing. Nonetheless, I am sure the staff of Feinstein and Pelosi conveyed our message to the senator and speaker.
The sit in was exhilarating. The Sunrise community was very comforting and unifying. The feeling of fighting towards a goal together was so beautiful. The fight for climate crisis action must continue and we will continue to show up for communities who are losing in the battle against climate change. We will continue to demand more from our politicians who work for us. We will continue to fight back against fossil fuel billionaires who pollute our world. Not because it is fun, but because it is necessary.
Many other groups like Fire Drill Fridays and Greenpeace are constantly planning actions that anyone can take part of. I urge everyone to join sunrise Bryn Mawr in striking on December 6. For more information, follow Bryn Mawr’s Sunrise Movement affiliated Instagram and Facebook @sunrisebmc.
Image credit: Vox
