Commentary: Arkansans Gear Up For March To 'Change Everything'

"I am probably the wrong person to be organizing this, but no one else seemed to be doing it, so here I am," said Edward Hejtmanek of Fayetteville after discovering no buses had yet been scheduled from Arkansas destined for the largest climate march in history.

Hejtmanek felt that wasn't right. Consequently, he's taking a month hiatus from his work as a woodcrafter and owner of Heartwood Gallery to serve as a bus co-captain and a co-coordinator of Arkansawyers headed to the Big Apple. Activism sneaks up on a person that way, thank goodness, else few changes would ever happen in this world.

Being part of a historic moment is often more happenstance than choice. Occasionally, however, we can decide to be in the right place at the right time if we want to witness or be a part of a turning, or tipping, point in the course of human events. In the case of the People's Climate March, scheduled in New York City on Sept. 21, thousands of people are coming together to hopefully show world leaders from government, finance, business and civil society there must be human change to deal with climate change.

The march is scheduled ahead of the United Nations Climate Summit 2014, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked leaders "to bring bold announcements and actions to the summit that will reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience and mobilize political will for a meaningful legal agreement in 2015."

The peoplesclimate.org website sums up the intent of the march: "We believe that world leaders will only act (or be able to act) on climate change when everyday people express the desire, and create the political mandate for them to do so ... . Organizing, mobilizing, and building social movements are ultimately what changes the course of history."

About the same time Edward was coming to terms with what he felt he must do, Dr. Donnal Walter, a neonatologist at Arkansas Children's Hospital, was reaching the same conclusion in Little Rock. Together they are coordinating an effort to fill 56 seats of a bus bound from Little Rock to New York, leaving early Friday, Sept. 19. After a tour of the Climate Change Science Institute at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the bus will stop for the night in eastern Tennessee. The Saturday overnight stay will be just outside NYC, and Sunday morning the bus will transport passengers into the city for the march, which begins at 11:30 a.m. at Columbus Circle near Central Park, extends past Rockefeller Center and ends at 11th Ave., a route of approximately 2.5 miles. The cost of the round trip ranges from $260 to $400 depending on whether accommodations are shared or not. The bus will return to Little Rock by Monday night.

The best website for the Arkansas trip is http://1in7b.net/PCM. For Northwest Arkansas, contact Edward Hejtmanek at [email protected], 479-444-0888 or 479-442-5675. Two Arkansas universities (the University of Arkansas Fayetteville and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway) also have contact connections.

It is hoped donations will be made to sponsor those who want to go but who do not have the money. Ten "scholarships" for the trip have been donated for those who qualify, but more are needed. Tax-deductible donations can be made through the Omni Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology in Fayetteville through a PayPal account online at omnicenter.org. In review, before finalizing with the "Donate" button, click "add special instructions to the seller" to indicate the donation is for the Climate March. Contact Edward for other information on how to sponsor riders by check or to help out in other ways.

More than 750 organizations from across the nation are listed as supporters of the event's goals, but individual commitment to "changing everything," as the invitation slogan to the march says, is paramount. One young girl from Eureka Springs says all she wants for her 18th birthday is to go to the march. If her spirit is an example of what her generation is willing to do, there may be hope for this old planet yet, or rather for our species continuing to live upon it.

Organizers of the September march said in a recent email their goal is to "bend the course of history":

"We'll take to the streets to demand the world we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities."

FRAN ALEXANDER IS A FAYETTEVILLE RESIDENT WITH A LONGSTANDING INTEREST IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND AN OPINION ON ALMOST ANYTHING ELSE.

Commentary on 08/24/2014

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