Fridays For Future is calling for another global climate strike day, and students at Mount Allison are heeding the call. Friday at 10:30am, students led by organizers with Divest MtA will gather in the academic quad outside the RP Bell Library, and make themselves heard about climate change.
It’s been just over three years since Greta Thunberg started the movement alternatively known as School Strike For Climate or Youth Strike For Climate. Kate DesRoches is a third year student, and third year member of Divest MtA. “The idea behind the Fridays For Future movement is to put pressure on institutions like governments—so some people do protests outside of parliaments or town halls—and also on institutions like universities,” says DesRoches. “So in our case, we’re trying to put pressure on the Mount Allison administration to divest and to take other steps towards climate action.”
DesRoches isn’t expecting a large turnout from people outside of campus, but she says the more, the merrier. “We would love to see other people there,” says DesRoches, recalling that two years ago a massive strike was organized by a group based out Tantramar High.
DesRoches had yet to decide exactly what message she would put on her sign for the march when we spoke, but she says that Divest MtA focusses their message not just on climate action, but on climate justice.
“It’s basically the intersection of environmentalism and social justice,” says DesRoches. “You look at the fossil fuel industry, the actual practices of the industry disproportionately harm marginalized people a lot of the time. And if you look at the climate crisis as a whole, a lot of the people who are going to be most affected are the people who have done the least to cause the climate crisis.”
Tune in to Tantramar Report Friday at 9am, noon and 4pm to hear Kate DesRoches talk more about Friday’s strike.
