We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
David Brower
Oh, wow! What an amazing day! Those who have read my last few posts will know I went to London on Saturday to join the vast Extinction Rebellion Biodiversity March and to protest against our government for continuing to plough enormous amounts of money into new fossil fuel industries along with their total lack of responsibility for climate injustice and destroying our world. They don’t give a damn about killing our planet, nature and people all over the world. The first-world countries are the ones who are causing the majority of the damage, but it’s the third-world countries who suffer the most. I could get very political about this, but I wouldn’t have the space to tell you about my experience. The protest is for four days, sadly, today being the last.
Lots of us from my local XR group set off at 7.30am to catch an early train into London. The journey for me as a wheelchair user was pretty horrendous there and back. However, every struggle along the route was well worth it.
For Earth Day on Saturday and the Biodiversity march, many people dressed up as different aspects of nature; animals of all sorts, plants and flowers, etc. (I have shared some photos, as you can see, just to give you an idea of the feel of the event.) People’s ingenuity and imagination were quite remarkable. We walked (or rode, in my case) for a mile, mainly around The Houses of Parliament and St James’s Park. On that day, there were, believe it or not, 90,000 rebels, including people from other climate-concerned groups! It was the biggest protest in the country, and the passion was tangible.
The drumming, which is what I was doing as we marched along, was fantastic. Although I got someone to take some photos of the band and I, I am unable to share them as I can’t share close-up pictures of the friends I was with. I just loved being part of such an enormous and passionate band.
The people dressed in white are all scientists, some well-known, who are far more knowledgeable about the future of our planet than our government. Where you can see thousands of people lying down on the road, this is what we call a ‘die-in’ – it lasts fifteen minutes, and it represents all the deaths our world will experience if we don’t stop killing everything and polluting our world – plants, animals, fish, trees etc. Believe it or not, 40% of all creatures have now perished, and many species are now endangered. I could talk more about this, but this would be an extremely long post! What really concerns us is that my and all our children will suffer the most as the future doesn’t look like it’s getting better in our generation. I find this thought very distressing.
I should add that XR worked closely with the police to make this a wonderful, totally peaceful protest. In fact, there were very few police officers about, as we weren’t doing anything harmful or causing damage.
After the most wonderful day, things began to wind up around 6pm. My friends and I went to a local London pub for drinks (non-alcoholic in my case) and chips; we were all ravenous by then. We then headed home by train and finally got home at nearly midnight! Yesterday, I could still hear the sound of the drums in my ears and had to recover from the very worthwhile exhaustion that followed.
I should add that no damage was done to anything or anyone in the course of the day. The Marathon was on yesterday, and we didn’t interrupt them as the press had said we would. We were actually cheering them on, which they all appreciated. Unfortunately, the right-wing press pick out any little event to make XR look bad, and in fact, there was hardly any positive coverage in any of the papers or many news programmes.
Finally (and probably a contentious issue), I couldn’t let this post go without mentioning two courageous Just Stop Oil rebels from another climate-concerned organisation, Morgan and Marcus. They desperately tried to raise awareness of the climate emergency by climbing above the Queen Elizabeth Bridge in the UK, blocking the road for 40 hours. They were both found guilty and were sentenced in the Crown Court (usually used for murder. rape, and manslaughter cases) on Friday to three years and two years, seven months in jail, respectively, having already served six months there. The judge stated he was ‘making an example’ of them to deter other people from taking action against the climate emergency. We are appalled about this unfair decision. You can get less time for burglary, and yet the government is responsible for numerous deaths by their inaction, and we don’t see them locked up, do we!? That’s food for thought.
Essentially Ellie 
This definitely caught my attention Thanks Anita
Thank you for your comment, Anita. I’m glad you got something out of reading this. Take care x
So glad it went well.
Lots of love.
xxxxxxx
Thanks very much, Granny. It went fantastically well. Love you, too Xxxxxx 💚
Glad to see all went well as you were drumming up support for such an important cause. Did your batteries for your chair last out?
Thank you so much, Geoff. My chair did quite well, thanks. I only had to recharge twice to get me there and back, including the mile-long Biodiversity March.
I’ve just watched the last of the protest live on YouTube. Everyone stood outside the Houses of Parliament, but not one single MP dared to come out to offer us any hope for the future. However, we are not going to give up. Our children and grandchildren need us to continue to fight for their futures.
And as I said, not a peep on Canadian, or American, television, at least not on the channels I watched, and we have satellite. We get lots of channels.
Big Media is not reporting the news fairly. But thst is not surprising anymore, since the media is mostly owned by billionaires now. They dictate what they let us hear.
Glad you had a great day and made it safely back home, Ellue.
🐵🐒🦍🦧🐶🐕🦮🐺🦝🐱🐈🐯🐅🐆🦄🦓🦌🦬🐂🐄🐗🐑🐪🦙🦒🐘🐭🐇🐿🦔🐨🐻❄️🐼🦨🦘🐤🐦🕊🦢🦆🦤🐢🦎🐍🐲🐉🦕🦖🐳🐬🦭🐡🦈🐙🐚🐌🐛🐝🐞🪳🕸🦂🪰🦠 all thank you.
That doesn’t surprise me, J. The media over here were almost silent about our protest, too. They do not speak the truth. It’s those with the most power and money, who don’t give a damn about the future of our children and grandchildren and all the generations that come after them (assuming we still have a suitable planet to live on by then!) We are not going to give up fighting for our children’s futures. These politicians don’t even care about the lives of their own children and grandchildren,; otherwise, how could they live with their consciences if they have any. Are the politicians really that ignorant that they can defy the scientists, who have been trying to raise the alarm about the climate emergency for years now? I despair but won’t give up. X I love your animal emojis – very appropriate and heartwarming. Thank you 💚🌼🌳🌷🌻🌺🌹💚🌹🌺🌻🌷🌳🌼💚
🌴🌵🌲🍁🌳 and all living things including🦟🪰 are being threatened by human endewvours, but most of us don’t care…
Great to know it went well!!
Thank you, Vidah. Xx 💚
What an exciting day. I’m glad it went well for you and you didn’t wind up getting stranded somewhere. From British news, I only read BBC. I haven’t noticed much of a rightwing slant to their stories (at least as compared to CNN or the Washington Post). I’ll look to see if I can find any protest articles. And of course, I’ll also carefully review the London Marathon stories as well.
Thank you, Jeff. I managed to charge my wheelchair twice while there, which got me through the long day. It’s not so much the BBC who are particularly right wing; it’s more many of our newspapers. The Guardian is the only paper I can believe and who are supportive and sympathetic to our cause. I’d be very interested to hear if you manage to find any protest articles. Before the march on Saturday and Sunday, the right-wing press put out that we were going to interfere with the Marathon. We had no intention of doing so, but the fact that we did, in fact, support the runners went without notice to the papers and TV. They only want to dish the bad news about us. Anything positive goes unreported. However, we will continue to fight. I’m not giving up.
Well done, Ellie. A great effort by you (and others, of course). Sadly, as you say, hardly any coverage, although I don’t read the right wing press so i don’t know what was actually written. But any coverage is at least something. And those sentences are just appalling.
Thank you very much, Mick. If we don’t stand up for our futures, who else will? It will be too late for future generations. I don’t generally read the right-wing press, but I/we are aware of what they print and send out as gospel. You don’t know who to believe any more these days. The Guardian is about the only paper I know of that supports those fighting to make positive change.
I’ve been listening to some of the last day live coverage on YouTube and they put out a live broadcast of Morgan from prison – he was encouraging us all to remain strong. I, and many others were in tears listening to him. He didn’t deserve to be locked up for three years. Thanks for caring, Mick. X
Three years is a ridiculous sentence. It certainly plays into the narrative of the establishment wanting to shut down all dissent.
And we read the Guardian and the i – I wouldn’t trust any others. The i gives a sort of middle ground which is useful reading, and obviously the Guardian has its own biases – I wouldn’t be naive enough to think any paper has none.
Well done – it looks like it was an amazing experience!
Thanks very much, Simon. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced before. It’s just so wrong that the government still will not listen to the people and the scientists who have been trying to raise the alarm about the climate emergency for many years.
I feel your frustration, the thing is I don’t think they know what to do…
You are courageous and that you went in a wheelchair is amazing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this on behalf of all our children and grandchildren. The pictures are great.
Thank you so much, Thomas. I am very determined when it’s something close to my heart. I very much appreciate your kind words and support. It means a lot to me. I/We have no intention of giving up. Too many lives are at stake. Take care, Thomas.
Good for you! Media doesn’t like reporting peaceful protests, especially if it is about the environment. It too boring and everyone has already said everything about it! Plus they don’t want to be labeled as a nut! All that aside, good for you, for your efforts and for doing something!
Thank you, Tamara. You are quite right about the media. This was our most peaceful protest to date, and there was no trouble there at all, even though the press insisted on saying that we would interfere with the Marathon. We had no intention of doing that, but the media have to push any little negative (of which there weren’t any this time) rather than talk about the truth. We will not give up, though, and are determined to do all within our power to speak up and shout about the climate emergency. I was very pleased to participate in such a massive action. I’ve been through various media outlets, the press, the TV news etc., and nothing good (or hardly anything, come to that) has been published or spoken about. Perhaps, they only want to publicise the bad things. Good news rarely makes the media. The truth of what we believe in is being ignored. Thanks for your moral support. Xx
Well, good news isn’t sensationalistic! Bad news is. Thankfully you don’t have Marjorie What’s her name over there, or she’d just make stuff up!
Great you doing & back to home. Beautiful you sharing collection. Very nice you share your Biodiversity March & Extinction Rebellion. And a Momentous day. I like. 👍
Thank you, Rajkkhoja. I’m glad you enjoyed my post and photos. It was the most amazing day, and I hope it will make a positive impact on our government. Thanks again. Xx 💚
Yes, government make a positive.
You are most welcome ❤️
Love this recap pf the biodiversity march and I love even more knowing that it went well and peacefully! The photos speak to the team effort of the community and call for action. ❤
Thank you very much, Layla. It was truly a wonderful experience, and yes, there was an awful lot of work that went into this action. We had given the government until yesterday at 5pm to respond, but we were met with deathly silence from them. So, now we are asking, “what next.” They’ll be a lot of planning and back to the drawing board going on for a while yet. (If it wasn’t so much a cliche, I would say. ‘watch this space.’) Xx 💚
Happy all went well, Ellie. Anything that can be done to facilitate a “call to action” is appreciated by those of us who realize the clock is ticking…and future generations are in great peril if we don’t change our ways immediately.
Thanks very much, Bruce. I appreciate your comment. I think most people realise how much danger the planet is in, although not everyone can take some sort of action. I’m glad that I can. I fear for future generations, too, who will be living with the consequences of our current actions, or lack thereof. These are scary times, and scarier still, because of the total inaction on the part of our government. As you say, change is needed now, not at some later date when it will all be too late. Thanks again, Bruce.
Thank you for these pictures Ellie.
I’m so pleased it went well. I too was disappointed about the lack of coverage on BBC News – my cynicism says it’s due to it being so peaceful.
I share your sadness about Morgan and Marcus – time is of the essence regarding climate change and our planet so it’s appalling that is largely ignored and more regard is given to property and big money rather than to lives.
I totally agree with you about Marcus and Morgan. The legal system is quick enough to punish two rebels for blocking a road, which didn’t cause any deaths or real hardship, except to some people’s pockets, but the system is quick enough to lock up two innocent people who were trying to raise the alarm about the climate emergency.
There is a slow march to Parliament on Saturday, organised by Just Stop Oil to protest about the jail sentences Marcus and Morgan were so unfairly given. Some of my XR friends will be going along to support this, but I won’t be able to go, as my wheelchair won’t cover the miles, and there would be minimal opportunity to plug in and recharge. I rarely get frustrated being a wheelchair user, but there are times like this when I feel really annoyed about it; not that I feel sorry for myself, however. Accepting my limitations can sometimes be challenging. Xx 💚
Wow Ellie! Look at you go, you amazing thing! I’m so proud of you!!!
The photos are awesome and I’m glad a huge group of people showed up to show support for climate change. As you mentioned in your post, the upper class don’t care and the lower socioeconomic class are the ones who suffer. When the world keeps heating up, it’s the poor that will have to endure that temperature rise – the rich will laze about in airconditioned comfort. We have to do more as a UNITED FRONT rather than pockets of us doing our best to protect our Earth. The poster that stood out to me amongst the many you captured photos of was “can we please stop killing everything?”. That’s literally it. We need to stop overfishing, polluting, mining, dumping and causing harm to natural environments. We need to stop killing everything.
Aww … thank you so much, Janet. I’m so glad you enjoyed the photos and hearing about my day in London. Thank you for showing so much interest and concern regarding my views about the climate emergency. You are quite right; we need to be united to fight climate change, not just tens of thousands of people, but more like most of the world, or at least, the first world countries. I agree with you about the rich not being affected by it anywhere near as severely as the poorer people. I don’t know anyone in my area fortunate enough to have air-con. Apart from this, even with air-con, it doesn’t stop the planet from getting hotter and hotter. Those people may be comfortable in their homes or cars, but others will suffer, as the third-world countries do now. However, I realise that ordinary people in hotter countries like Australia (where my sister lives – near Melbourne) have air-con out of necessity.
That poster also stood out to me, which is why I took the photo. As you say, that’s precisely what is happening to our planet and all its inhabitants. With the amount of plastics in our oceans, which then get into all the sea life, including fish that many people eat, it’s now been proven that traces of microplastics have been found in some human beings’ bloodstreams. These can be passed from mother to child when breastfeeding. That’s a truly terrifying thought! What chance do our future generations stand when we have totally messed up their planet?
Also, our trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere, yet they are being chopped down all the time, especially in places like the Amazon Rainforest. Most trees in the Amazon are being ripped up to grow crops for cattle to feed on so that humans can eat their meat. I’m glad I’m a vegan, although naturally, I’m far from perfect with other things. The point is that we all have to do our very best to save our precious planet, or we won’t have a world to live in at all.
Don’t get me started on space travel … billions of pounds/dollars are spent on that when that money could vastly improve things on Earth instead. The moon has been visited by astronauts many times, so why continue to send people up there when we’ll never be able to live on it? And who knows – if we find another planet to live on in the far distance, what’s to say we won’t wreck that one, too!?
Sorry, I’ve gone on longer than I intended – once I get started on this topic, I can’t stop, as you will have noticed. Thanks again, dear friend. Xx 💚
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you’ve said, Ellie. I’m so proud of you and how passionate you are to protect our planet from any further damage. I was oblivious to all of this until I did a degree in Sustainability at University. Now – even though I absolutely LOVE to eat meat (sorry) – Alun and I have 2 “meat free” nights a week to cut down on what we use. We make compost when we can and we grow as many of our own fruits, herbs and vegetables as we can, too. We try to reuse and recycle rather than add things to the already heaving litter/rubbish piles and we have a few beautiful trees on our decked area because we so love to know we’re growing them rather than cutting them down.
Thank you so much, Janet. I very much appreciate your support of what I am doing. I’m glad and impressed that you have a degree in sustainability – how wonderful. It’s great, too, that you have two meat-free nights. Every little helps. I know Australia (I think I’m right in stating that; if not, I apologise) is a big meat-eating country, as my sister lives there, and I believe her family all eat meat most days. She said there are very few vegans over there, so the vegan options are very poor, unlike here, where we can have find vegan options almost anywhere. It’s also good that you grow your own veggies etc., and that you reuse and recycle as much as you can. I’m also thrilled to hear that you have trees in your garden and that you don’t cut them down. Trees are wonderful at capturing carbon from the air and giving off life-giving oxygen, too. Thank you for playing your part in saving our planet. As I said, every tiny bit helps and you are doing more than many people.
I seem to have lost one of your comments. It was about me travelling to London with my wheelchair and my drum. It seems to have disappeared from my comment section, but I don’t know why. Very strange and I don’t even know how it happened. One minute I was reading it, and the next, it was gone! How odd. Love to you, my dear friend. Xx 💖
Wow Ellie! You’re picture says a thousand words and I see why you were so tired with the masses. Loved your pictures and the energy and synergy of everyone coming together. Congratulations💞
Thanks, Cindy. It was a real battle to get through those crowds. There were 90,000 people there, and the police had fenced off space for the Marathon, meaning we were squashed into narrow channels all along the way. I couldn’t see where I was going amongst all those people, but fortunately, my friend had a bright pink hat on, and I kept track of her in front of me. I was thankful to her for her pink hat! I’m glad you liked the pictures. I think this was one of the most worthwhile things I’ve done in years, even though I’ve supported Extinction Rebellion since 2019. Thanks for your support, my friend. Xx 💚
Oh my golly, that’s crazy. Oh thank god for friends with pink hats.. too cute and a godsend. Oh this is so awesome it was a highlight., You’re most welcome! 💗
Oh wow, that’s a huge gathering.
I love how so many well educated people got involved with this.
I hope this creates proper awareness.
Especially younger generation needs to be aware. Thanks for sharing EET 🔆
It was an amazing experience being with so many people, all wanting the same thing for our planet. There were a lot of scientists there (in white coats in the photos) and they have tried telling our government about the climate emergency, but so far, the government have remained silent and don’t show any signs of taking any positive action. I find that extremely worrying. There were quite a lot of young people and children at the protest. I think they are learning about climate change in their schools these days, although I’ve never heard my younger grandchildren mention it. I will have to ask some more questions, I think.
Thank you for your interest, Devang, and for your concern. Every voice matters.
I’m so sorry I’m far behind on keeping up with your blog recently. I’ve been so busy fighting for the planet that I’ve got behind on nearly every blog I follow. I will do my best to keep up with your writing in the coming days. I saw you posted one of your kind, ‘how are you feeling’ posts during the week; I will try to answer your questions soon, although I think you probably know how I am doing through my recent posts. Take good care of yourself, my friend 🌞🌎🌛
It’s sad that no government is taking action towards it.
I hope things goes in a positive direction.
Yes younger generation needs proper awareness.
You take care of your health
A long and memorable day, glad you enjoyed it and got home safely Ellie 💛
Thanks very much, Cherryl. It certainly was a very long day, but thoroughly enjoyable even with all the accessibility issues. If I had the opportunity to do it all again, would I? Yes, definitely! I hope you are well. I’m still trying to catch up on blog reading. I’ve been way behind with everybody’s, and then, yesterday, my laptop gave up, and I lost all my saved tabs. I’m now using my neighbour’s son’s spare laptop until I can get mine [hopefully] repaired or, possibly, replaced. I’m lost without it. Xx 🌷💕
If like me, you follow over 3000 blogs, you’re never going to be on top of everyone’s blogs all the time 😝 just keep it leisurely. I feel your pain, all those tabs gone, plus a laptop is like a right arm these days – thank goodness your neighbour has a spare. 🙏 take care 💛x
Ah, I’m glad I’m not the only one that follows numerous blogs and can’t always keep up. The problem I have is that I feel a great sense of loyalty to my fellow bloggers, so I feel disappointed in and annoyed with myself if I can’t read everyone’s recent posts. However, I’m so grateful to my neighbour’s son for lending me his spare laptop to tide me over until mine can be [hopefully] fixed 🙏. As you say laptops are like out right arm these days. It makes me wonder how we managed before they came along, for example, what did we do before there was online shopping and Amazon. There were no blogs either back in the day, and I’m grateful that I have access to that as I’ve met so many wonderful friends on here. Hope you have a great day, Cherryl. Xx 🤍
The world has evolved so fast it’s actually hard to remember life without the internet, crikey. Good luck with the laptop, and have a lovely rest of the week Ellie x✨