The Kimberley Youth Action Network (KYAN) hosted their own #FridaysForFuture school walkout on Friday, September 20, 2019 at 11 a.m. in Kimberley’s Platzl.
READ MORE: Kimberley students to participate in #FridaysForFuture climate change strike
KYAN students from Selkirk Secondary lead the walkout, with members of the community, business owners and students from Kimberley Independent School (KIS) joining in. The grade two and three students from KIS sang and danced to the song “With My Own Two Hands” by Jack Johnson, while the students from Selkirk spoke to the crowd, to our local government and to the Federal government about taking action on climate change.
After their speeches, students and community members alike marched down to Kimberley City Hall, where they proceeded to chant various phrases like, “what do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now!”
Thea De Paoli, who is a student at Selkirk in Grade 10, gave a speech that brought some people to tears.
“I truly believe kindness is the turning point for humanity. Although I may be lost in details, or legalities, or jargon, I am not lost in kindness. My generation is not lost in kindness,” she said to the crowd in part of her speech. “I don’t really understand Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, or how to do taxes. Most 16-year-olds don’t. We are too busy fighting for a future we can be proud of. The climate crisis is this generation’s world war and I’m ready to fight. I’ve not lost faith in this world, I have not lost faith in people, but above all I have not lost faith in kindness.”
corey.bullock@kimberleybulletin.com
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