I can’t believe it – Powershift is almost over already! Day three was just as great as days one and two, although in a completely different way.
In the morning, there was movement building training for the majority of the group – planning a campaign, engaging others, finding a common story for the “us” of the project.
I went to the closing of the Clean Economy track and heard from Pastor David Bullock, an incredibly thoughtful and charismatic man from Detroit. He talked to the group about the power of the people: “Policy does not change the world,” he told us. “People change the world. Policy catches up with people.” These people, he continued are the youth. Radical work takes radical people and radical people are people who can give things up. As youth, we are not tied down by spouses and houses and jobs, so now is our time to affect change. I left feeling inspired, and ready to take action.
The highlight of the day by far, however, was the Minnesota breakout session. Every person from Minnesota met in a room for an hour and a half and we used the time to strategize what we can do on a state-wide level. We organized better communication between the schools (Facebook!), planned for a blog to share our success on food-related issues, decided to work towards building a faith-based community, improving the light rail, creating a state-wide network for sustainability, and began talks about a large event at the capital for 350.org’s September day of movement, among others. There were 12 conversations in all and every one of them was productive and enlightening.
After the breakout, we had dinner with Carleton alums from D.C. before taking a nighttime tour of the monuments.
Now, we’re getting pumped up for a Powershift march on the White House – can you imagine 10,000 students screaming for clean energy!?!? I can’t wait – and then hopping on the bus for our 20-hour ride back to Carleton.
Photos from the march will be up on this blog after we return to Carleton!