Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, November 17, around 100 people gathered in Uptown Minneapolis’ Painter Park as Families Against Military Madness (FAMM) and the Climate Justice Committee (CJC) led a protest focused on bringing families into the climate and anti-war movements. Speakers discussed the post-election struggle and the need for young people to learn and practice organizing skills for the long struggles ahead.

The crowd chanted “Money for climate, not for war!” as community members decorated musical instruments, signs and colored beautiful kites from Mizna with pro-Palestine messages. Liz McLister of FAMM began the program by speaking to the child attendees, “It's hard to see but can anyone read the message on my earrings? They say ‘Land Back.’ Raise your hand if you know what ‘Land Back’ means?”

McLister explained: “Land back means that we organize to put indigenous lands back into indigenous hands. This land we're standing on was violently stolen from the Dakhóta Oyáte, the Dakota people, many generations ago, and our indigenous siblings and friends continue to suffer from lack of access to it.”

Audrey Keirstead, a tenth grader at Kennedy High School, spoke for the MN Anti-War Committee, “I remember how [in his first term, Trump] appointed people to the EPA who didn’t believe that climate change was real, and even as an elementary school student it was easy to understand how ridiculous this was. Now, in Trump’s second term, he wants to increase oil production and has referred to global warming as a scam. But FAMM and the CJC called for this protest before Trump was even elected. We need to be here because regardless of who was elected, we need to organize for environmental justice and a free Palestine since it has been made clear that neither candidate was offering us what we deserved.”

Charlie Berg of the CJC spoke next, “To any parents out there who are struggling with how to talk to kids about the world and the future when it all feels so bleak, I think what’s most important is to empower them with this knowledge that through solidarity all things are possible, and to show them with your own actions that you’re prepared to fight for their future, right alongside them.”

Jaci Simonet of FAMM and Joe Vital of the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute also spoke. Gary Hoover detailed his experience in the Hawaii-based Save Red Hill movement, and Roger Cuthbertson informed the crowd about the fight to close Minnesota’s Monticello Nuclear Power Plant.

The event ended with a picket march around Uptown Minneapolis’ Painter Park – enjoyed by the neighbors and the skaters in the skatepark – and kids played with a giant flower shooting anti-war tank display.

#MinneapolisMN #Environment #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #FAMM #CJC