Tacoma Chapter
Our solution to climate change? Democracy.
Music/Dance/Performance
Mr Bruce, "I Am Disaster" 2021. "I am disaster, I am doom, you didn’t expect to meet me so soon..." music video made supporting the Environmental Justice Foundation.
Moya Brennan (of the Clannad Band, related to Enya), "Voices of the Land" 2009.
Watch on YouTube (Very poor visual but good sound)
Lyrics:
As I journey through this blessed land
The signs and wonders are clear to me
Streams of silver, streams of gold
How much longer will they flow?
Will they flow?
Watch the seasons change with every year
With disappearing skies, the earth will fade
Trees so tall and proud, forest so grand
How much longer will they stand?
Will they stand?
Raindrops falling, everything breathes
Hear the voices of the land
Of the land
Marvin Gaye, "Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology)" 1971. Remember this? "What about this overcrowded land how much more abuse from man can she stand." There are multiple videos on YouTube, find your favorite.
Donald Glover,"Feels like Summer” music video by Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) “might be one of the farthest-reaching pieces of climate art ever”
Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi” 1970. One of the first, and still one of the best! Lines like these say it all:
“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot”
OXFAM Hot Air Band at COP26, 2021. Big-head caricatures of world leaders performing in a traditional Scottish bagpipe band. “They are just blowing hot air, and we have had enough of hot air and empty promises. What we are asking for is for concrete action.”
Extinction Rebellion’s Red Rebel Brigade, CODE RED, at Glasgow Central Station, Nov 2021. "The iconic Red Rebel Brigade joined forces with Scotland’s Blue Rebels in holding world leaders to account during the COP26 Climate Summit. They delivered a haunting performance and a reading, followed by a silent procession around the station and its concourse, ending in the unfurling of a banner signifying the end of their journey and the hope that COP26 will drive political climate action." “It is now CODE RED for humanity, for climate, and for nature. There is not a single moment more to waste, and policymakers who don’t come to the table ready to make sacrifices really will have blood on their hands.”
Nelson, choreographer, Joan Jeanrenaud, composer, Dead Reckoning, 2014, performed by the ODC Dance Company in San Francisco. The title refers to navigating in poor visibility, increasing the stress and likelihood of error-- is this our situation re: the climate crisis? This KQED newsroom special is great for some background on this beautiful and expressive piece. Click on image to watch the whole performance.
Jody Sperling, Bringing the Arctic Home 2015, dancing on the ice. She accompanied a scientific mission to the Arctic as the guest of oceanographer Robert Pickart. She won a Creative Climate Award and continues to engage in climate literacy outreach.