Clayton from the Indigenous caucus performing at vigil, photo by Kris Krug
Yesterday, I witnessed my good friend, Joshua Kahn-Russel of the Rainforest Action Network, get bludgeoned in the face by police officers. He, along with the rest of us, weren’t trying to get into the Bella Center. We weren’t compromising the safety of World leaders inside. We just wanted to access the street across the bridge, where those who could not get into the center were waiting for us. Where we would have converged, we were going to hold a “People’s Assembly,” to create the kind of treaty that we would have wanted to come from our leaders.
But, the police would not let us cross that bridge. We attempted to negotiate with them. They told us that if we were to pass, we would risk arrest down the line. We accepted this, and attempted to walk past them. But, they blocked the way, and started beating those they could reach. After a while of scuffling, we started to retreat. As we did, they circled around the activists in the front, trapping them. They started to wail down on them gratuitously.
This is when the conference rules stopped becoming about “protecting the safety of those inside the Bella Center,” but more about preserving power. In a larger sense, I think it showed how scared the elites are of us: They simply would not let us assemble, even though at this point we were far from the center.
After half of the public transportation shut down to impede Copenhagen’s visitors without private limos to access the center, we have escalated our tactics. Not with violence, but with peace.
This is why I fasted today. More generally, like most of those fasting today with me, it was to fast in solidarity with those who can not access food. This is not only due to climate change in itself, but the corrupt food system, which is making it more and more difficult for people on both sides of the equation to find something nourishing to their bodies in the midst of “development.”
But I also fasted because as an “observer” here at Copenhagen, I had run out of ideas. Nothing else seemed important enough or effective enough to do at this juncture.
The police have attempted to take away our rights. The city and the UN process has taken away our access, barring us from the process. But this in itself says something. It shows they are threatened, that they are scared, and that we are a voice to be reckoned with.
The failure of Copenhagen, like what was said at the vigil, is not a complete failure. They have not won. We have succeeded in shifting the power so that those vulnerable to the decisions of the rich and powerful have been elevated: this time their voice was heard by the world, loud and clear. People like President Mohammud Nasheed of the Maldives have helped strengthen the youth movement in this way, by lending us his voice and giving us hope in the possibility of leadership.
Copenhagen may be a failure, but if we can keep our strength up until the end, we will have gained some ground in this battle for humanity. My love and gratitude goes out to everyone that is here with me, and all over the world, striving everyday to make it a better place.
(Photo credit: Kris Krug)
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