On Saturday, July 13, 2019, neighbors of Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York gathered at Grand Army Plaza for their first Extinction Rebellion (XR) action. About twenty XR activists as well as representatives of the Green Party, including Gloria Mattera, Co-Chair of the New York State Green Party, marched from Grand Army Plaza through Prospect Park holding XR banners to 9th Street handing out flyers informing park visitors about the climate emergency and the Park Slope chapter of Extinction Rebellion.
The organizers of the Park Slope Extinction Rebellion group decided to jump into action when they saw how the environmental action group was able to get large numbers of people involved by organizing in their neighborhoods. For Jesse Ortiz, who group up in the South Slope organizing is about developing relationships that build power and has been involved with XR since January, “Park Slope has a lot of people who care about progressive issues, and we wanted to offer an outlet for people to be involved in direct action to address the climate emergency.” The Park Slope Chapter of XR plans to hold more community meetings in Park Slope and partner with local organizations to spread XR’s message as widely and deeply as they can.
Gloria Mattera, Co-Chair of the New York State Green Party, welcomed XR as a new and growing activist group raising awareness and demanding accountability about the current climate crises. She said, “XR’s principles are in line with the Green Party platform of putting people and the planet before profit. Green Party members around the state have been participating in XR actions, and it is great to have a new group forming in Park Slope.”
Extinction Rebellion (XR) was founded to protest against climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. It started in the United Kingdom in late 2018 as an international movement of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience. In the Fall of 2018, thousands of rebels protested the inaction of the UK government peacefully blocking roads and occupying five bridges of the River Tames for six hours. The organization demands a climate and ecological emergency declaration, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025, and the creation of a citizens assembly on climate and environmental justice. The movement has grown rapidly in a short period and has member organizations all around the world and the New York City chapter has held multiple actions in New York City including a die-in at the New York Times in June protesting the media’s lack of urgency when it comes to reporting about the climate breakdown.
For upcoming XR events in New York City, go here https://www.xrebellion.nyc/events
More scenes from XR Park Slope inaugural action:
