Yesterday The Extinction Rebellion began its London shutdown occupying 5 key areas. (oxford circus, marble arch, piccadilly circus, parliament square and waterloo bridge). Each one reflected a different aspect of the situation and their demands. All the shots above were taken at Oxford Circus yesterday which has been taken over under the banner of ‘Tell The Truth’. Extinction Rebellion’s 1st demand is that the “Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change”.
One of the main reasons for a total lack of progress in dealing with the environmental situation is that people are not being told by their governments and the media how bad the problem is, how quickly it is escalating and how much needs to be done to prevent much greater catastrophe down the line. The reasoning is “if it was really as bad as these protestors are saying it is, then the government would tell us. But they aren’t. Its not a conspiracy theory. They just aren’t. And the BBC aren’t either. An media organisation that has a reputation for being the global bastion of truth has been restricting and withholding climate change news stories for years and years. They have a responsibility to inform us of what is going on. We must pressure them to do so.
It was incredible to see Oxford Circus shut down yesterday and converted into a festival/protest/rave/sit in party full of nothing but positive attitudes and a brilliant atmosphere. An incredible amount of time and effort has gone into orchestrating this operation and so many people have given up their time and other priorities to make this attempt to show our leaders that they need to step up and deal with this rather than just continue to ignore it. The people who are part of this protest have nothing in common other than they want to see some action and honesty in relation to this ecological emergency which will affect every single one of us on this planet. They do not want to disrupt things or get arrested for doing so but are willing to do so because they feel there are literally no alternatives. They are not anarchists or trouble makers. They are not one demographic. They are just normal people who have had enough.
If you are in London, come down and show your support, get involved. They are holding the streets day and night so you can go down anytime. See what it is about for yourself. Talk to people. You will find nothing but friendly lovely folk who are doing whatever they can. The more of us there are, the greater the chance we have for them to listen to us. And we urgently need to take action now and begin altering how we live and start walking on a path towards a sustainable future.
Remember, if you are anti-extinction, you already ARE in the Extinction Rebellion!