Thank you to all who took part in my Citizens’ Assembly via earthweal this week. I have submitted our feedback, stories and suggestions to the organisers, meaning they should feature in the first official Global Assembly 2021 report!
I really appreciate the care, effort and consideration which participants gave to this challenge. Below you will find some of the quotes I fed back to the Global Assembly:
Ten years on
Ingrid Wilson, Assemble!
my eldest son will be full-grown
my youngest, in the bloom of adolescence
and what kind of future will they face on an unstable planet?
I’d like to say, at least, I did my best
today
Rallentanda
as I got out of the car
i saw a black mask lying in the gutter
about to begin its journey to the stormwater drain
out to sea
and i thought
what kind of person
could do this
and then i thought of the 1.6 billion masks
polluting the ocean
and answered my own question
quite a lot
Five years left to lower emissions,
Sherry Marr, I Ask the Unlistening Ear
they say, yet nothing changes.
When man is replaced by faster methods
Selma Martin, Why Do We Need To Save The World Dairy Herd For Profit?
Eventually something has to give
Get ready for greed and starvation
Put time, hearts, money into the future
Kim Whysall-Hammond, The future calls
before she burns away
It’s time to praise water without waiting
Susan Chast, Beyond Shrink-Wrap and Faucets
for more reasons to weep. Time we learned
to save it without looking for whom to blame.
Time we showed up to save ourselves
When we can create
Susan Chast, Haiku Essay
together, humanity
improves on itself
Stop eating meat and dairy produce,
Jane Dougherty, In the eye of the storm
stop using gas-guzzling cars,
stop using planes and going to far-away countries to despoil them
Entangled in destruction,
Kerfe Roig, Uncertainty
each year shortened
by greed and complacency.
everything alive is singing
Sarah Connor, Silence
and I am singing – the blood
in my veins sings,
and my heart sings,
and my fingers sing
and the electric surges
of my nerves are songs
and the breath in my lungs
is a song is a song is a song
and I fear the silence
An Observation
It has not escaped my notice that all participants to this challenge were women. I will reserve judgement on this matter, but only say that perhaps more matriarchal thought is needed to take us forward. Just look how well the patriarchy is succeeding right at this moment…
Ingrid
There are some amazing, thoughtful and thought-provoking quotes in this post. Good luck with your project.
BTW I would have participated but, for reasons I don’t want to share, I am hopeless at social media.
Don’t worry about it, Hobbo, I know you care and you write lot on this subject!
Thanks for your understanding. 😊🌹
Thank you, Ingrid, for all you do!
My pleasure Merril 🙏
😊
Wow, Ingrid, there’s some lovely stuff here. Thank you for all your energy, enthusiasm and tenacity.
Thank you for being part of this Sarah ❤️
It’s an honour, Ingrid.
Writers keep writing, reader keep reading. Words carry energy to get read by someone. I appreciate each creation in this post.
Thanks Ingrid for your tireless work. We are all the better for it. (K)
I do what I can. Thank you Kerfe!
These are so good, Ingrid. Thank you for doing this and for forwarding the gatherings on. I so agree with what you say about the need for matriarchy. I am mind-boggled this week. When you think it cant worse, it does. Sigh.
Mind-boggled but unsurprised describes my current state. Thank you Sherry!
A powerful collection of ideas and poetic presentation, Ingrid!
I am fascinated to know women only attended this event; I do not necessarily think of men as unaware of the climate change problem so I do not know quite what to make of this fact . . .
It could be coincidence, but I thought owing to the fact that no men attended, it could be more than that…
Gorgeous thoughts, and an important event. I agree with your concluding remarks too.
Thank you Jeff 🙏
You’re welcome, Ingrid. Always. 🙏
An incisive and insightful summary, Ingrid, may the Assembly take heed from its wise women. Reasons for my absence were several: I needed a break; my attempts to respond to the challenge felt ill-inspired and unhelpful (“Valkyrie Weather” and “The Latter Poetry”); my voice has felt frail and faulty and uninspired. Leave it to the matriarchs to show where the true centers of authority are. Thanks again for your work at earthweal.
This was certainly not intended as a criticism of individuals, but rather a general observation. When my muse labours, I also prefer to stay quiet!
Great post, Ingrid. And a very succinct observation at the end.
Thanks, Sunra, I had to say it!
Utterly right to! ☀️
I enjoyed reading these. And, your added afterthought was spot on.
Thank you Rae 🙏
such a great response from such astue writers and always your honest truths Ingrid! 💖💖💖
Thank you Cindy 💕
You’re welcome Ingrid! 💖
“perhaps more matriarchal thought is needed to take us forward.”
perhaps. I hope that we can teach empathy with logic in a hurry…
Shira