On the morning of Saturday April 29^th, I had the pleasure of marching in the People’s Climate March in Washington, D.C. I marched beside husbands, wives, children, grandparents, fellow college students, and even some truly precious pets, all with a common goal: giving voice to the voiceless, Planet Earth. While it was, ironically, blazing hot, and most people would probably rather be cooling off by a pool, thousands of people turned out. Perhaps, after deciding that we should deal with the prolonged heat of the future today, instead of dealing with it for just today by hiding in air conditioning.

At the beginning of the march, I had the pleasure of listening to some incredibly bright speakers such as a Saudi Arabian doctor who fights for woman’s rights and the man who organized the historic march against nuclear arms in 1982. All of these speakers offered great insight on how to fight climate change, how it is not too late, and how to make our voices heard by a government that has turned its back on the fight for a healthy planet. While I found that these speeches were morally uplifting and offered new perceptions on how to tackle the greatest issue we face today, the speakers were not the most intellectually stimulating aspect of the march. While walking alongside my fellow Americans, what I found the most thought-provoking component of attending the march were the signs.

Some of these signs were humorous such as “Respect your mother,” or “leave dino alone!” However, the ones that caught my attention were the serious signs. Ones that shock anyone who reads them, rather than adding a comical undertone to an issue that is anything but funny. The one sign that stuck with me the most was one that read, “On November 8^th 2016, Homo Sapiens were added to the list of endangered animals.” While this obviously is not a true statement, it brought some disturbing thoughts to mind. What happens now that Donald Trump, a climate change denier, is our president and is threatening the EPA? What if we allow ourselves to avoid taking responsibility for the earth to the point that one day we really become endangered? What if my grandchildren one day ask me what polar bears were? What happens when Alaskan villagers or natives of Chesapeake islands are forced to become the first climate change refugees? While all these thoughts were deeply unsettling, I was thankful to have engaged in a political movement that brought such heartbreaking “what ifs” to the forefront. Climate Change is catastrophic; I should feel tremendously unsettled until something is done.

Then there were signs that expressed the whole purpose of the march: giving voice to the voiceless. One sign showed a picture of the Lorax saying “I speak for the trees.” Another read, “Nature has its rights.” Both of these signs reminded me of Christopher Stone, a philosopher who I studied in an environment ethics course at my university. He proposed that nature should have legal rights applicable in a court of law. While these signs may not be proposing that we extend legal rights to trees and other elements of nature, they did emphasize that nature does have its innate rights that demand respect. They stressed that we were marching in order to stand up for the earth, which cannot stand up for itself. If we speak for nature, we can save nature. While only so much can be accomplished by one march, we made our voices heard, but more importantly, we made the earth’s cries for help heard.