Klimastreik, 12 Uhr! Hamburg was taking part in the global climate march, and I wanted to be there. I thus took the day off work, slept in, and then took my globe for a walk.
It was expected that about 30,000 people would take to the streets in my home city, but in the end, final estimates from the police put us at 70,000 -- a picture of us even made it here! There were so many people that we first had to stand for hours before even starting the march route.
Making my way from my apartment to the U-Bahn, I got a little teary to find myself surrounded by kids leaving school, carrying handmade posters and talking about going to their first protest. There were whole kindergartens, kids donning high-vis vests and flowers or pictures they had drawn. Teachers were there with their students, parents with their babies, whole offices that had been allowed to leave work early that day. All smiling (despite the depressing signs and reason for being there), all helping one another, like the strangers helping people in wheelchairs up the escalator when the line for the elevator was so long. Lots of kids wanted to spin my globe, several of them playing the "Where am I going on the vacation?-game", where you spin, close your eyes and point.
Later, looking through the news at pictures from protests all over the world, knowing my friends and I had been marching with millions, I felt hope as well as worry, and hoped that hope will win.
No comments:
Post a Comment