On Friday, April 19th, 2024, K College students participated in a Fridays for Future event, which was the Kalamazoo Climate Rally. It was hosted by the Western Michigan University's Climate Change Working Group and the Ardea Youth Climate Coalition. This event allowed multiple students and community members to come together and put on a peaceful protest for our right to a healthy future. In this march students began marching from Red Square and walked all the way to Bronson Park. While the students were at the park, the K students tabled to talk about the Environmental Stewardship Center and ECO Club, and even gave speeches. The Climate Rally was a good way to get young peoples voices heard by the community and allowed more people to go out and get involved, and also be in a community with other folks who are actively making sustainable change in our city.
This event was very important to for the Environmental Movement, if people of the community were not putting on these events then I feel that a lot of things wouldn't be getting done and the wheels of justice would be turning even slower than it already is.
Another Climate Strike in Kalamazoo happened from September 20th through September 27th, 2024, which was made to bring environmental problems up to the Kalamazoo government, students from kalamazoo and the surrounding area spoke on leaving behind investments in coal, oil, and other mining and producing with large carbon footprints, then after the rally, the group will march though downtown on the walkways, leading back to Bronson Park.
The people of Kalamazoo care for a lot more than just their community, but instead for the entire world, there were Kalamazoo groups that rallied in support of Canadian wildfire victims and global climate crisis action. In July of 2023, two groups hosted a demonstration to support people who are impacted by the Canadian wildfire smoke, those groups were the Kalamazoo Climate Crisis Coalition, and the Western Michigan University Climate Change Working Group. They were to march from Kalamazoo City Hall to Bronson Hospital, where they spoke out about the connection between the recent smoke from wildfires in Canada and the global climate crisis. The people who attended wore respirators and other masks, carried signs, inflated balloons in the shape of flames, and carried a large inflated globe.
Hey Noah! I love how you used Kalamazoo as your place for showing concern about the topic. Getting to post how WMU impacts the student life activists who care about the environment on campus is amazing! Have you gone to one of these rallies or events? Getting the youth involved is so important.
ReplyDeleteThis was well written! It is awesome to see such cool events taking place in our own backyard. One might think, what can a smaller town like Kalamazoo accomplish when fighting against something so massive as global warming but it starts in your own town! I think if everyone in small or medium sized towns could pull off something like this as well we would see some real change. We just need to get the ball rolling and why not Kalamazoo?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well written and easy to read blog! I never knew about the Kalamazoo Climate Rally, I think that you shed light on this very informatively. I agree tremendously that it is very important for individuals to be involved in order to see a change.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is incredibly inspiring, especially as this climate action is happening right here in Kalamazoo! It’s amazing to see the next generation of students and community groups coming together to make a difference. I wonder what impact the Climate Rally and Strike has had on local government, or even larger communities around Kalamazoo?
ReplyDeleteI was in Kalamazoo for all of these events, and I had no idea. I think it is crazy how far people will go for something they care about, and it is so admirable. I think you did a great job on this post. I had no idea how involved people were, especially in Kalamazoo. I will definitely be looking out for it now knowing that there is something I can do.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you discussed climate change activism from a local perspective. It is important for the newer generations to be educated on the very real and detrimental effects of climate change. This is a very well written post, and inclines me to want to become involved myself.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this post because I participated in one of these Kalamazoo walks as a senior in high school and although they are large, I feel they aren't talked about enough. It is one of the best feelings to see students come together and fight about something they deeply care about.
ReplyDeleteThis was so nice to read, I honestly had no clue these things were happening in Kalamazoo! Seeing activism at work in our city really gives me hope personally, and it's cool seeing all the engagement at a college level as well. I wonder what sort of rallies or marches are upcoming in Kalamazoo?
ReplyDeleteI really like that this article was focused on what Kalamazoo has been doing to try and stop climate change since it gives people here a chance to be a part of the change that needs to be happening
ReplyDeleteShowing politicians that we care about this subject is a great to help try combat climate change. Seeing it done by student of our University is incredibly to see.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments you have already gotten that your post is inspiring. So many people were here but did not know the protests were happening. I have an idea that people that you are going to be sure that if another one happens you are going to be sure that people in our class know about it! (In the last picture there is an old guy with his back to the camera that looks a bit familiar to me...)
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