it's 3:23 in the morning
and I'm awake
because my great great grandchildren
won't let me sleep
my great great grandchildren
ask me in dreams
what did you do while the planet was plundered?
what did you do when the earth was unraveling?
surely you did something
when the seasons started failing?
as the mammals, reptiles, birds were all dying?
did you fill the streets with protest
when democracy was stolen?
what did you do
once
you
knew?
Dr. Wangari Maathai
Social, environmental and political activist. Winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize“Those of us who witness the degraded state of the environment and the suffering that comes with it cannot afford to be complacent. We continue to be restless. If we really carry the burden, we are driven to action. We cannot tire or give up. We owe it to the present and future generations of all species to rise up and walk!"
The Moment is Clear
From Alex Steffen's Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century
“So here we are. We need, in the next twenty-five years or so, to do something never before done. We need to consciously redesign the entire material basis of our civilization. The model we replace it with must be drastically more ecologically sustainable, offer large increases and prosperity to everyone on the planet, and not only function in areas of chaos and corruption, but also help transform them. That alone is a task of historic magnitude, but there is an additional complication:
We only get one shot... fail to act boldly enough and we may fail completely. "
“So here we are. We need, in the next twenty-five years or so, to do something never before done. We need to consciously redesign the entire material basis of our civilization. The model we replace it with must be drastically more ecologically sustainable, offer large increases and prosperity to everyone on the planet, and not only function in areas of chaos and corruption, but also help transform them. That alone is a task of historic magnitude, but there is an additional complication:
We only get one shot... fail to act boldly enough and we may fail completely. "
Dr. Vadana Shiva
Scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist. Winner of the 1993 Right Livelihood AwardIndigenuity
"The proposal to use indigenous knowledges to save the Earth denotes knowledge as something not passively found in 'nature,' but something profound in the experiential exploration of our human place within the natural world… Insight, knowledge and sometimes even wisdom will come to those who begin to pay attention to their lives as they are situated daily in the nature-culture nexus."
— Daniel Wildcat (Tsoyaha/Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation) in his book, Red Alert: Saving the Planet With Indigenous Knowledge
"The proposal to use indigenous knowledges to save the Earth denotes knowledge as something not passively found in 'nature,' but something profound in the experiential exploration of our human place within the natural world… Insight, knowledge and sometimes even wisdom will come to those who begin to pay attention to their lives as they are situated daily in the nature-culture nexus."
Greta Thunberg
Climate justice activist“We all have a choice. We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations. Or we can continue with our business as usual and fail.”
“We all have a choice. We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations. Or we can continue with our business as usual and fail.”