“Why Aren’t You Panicking?”—Scenes From the New York Climate Strike

“Why aren’t you panicking?” read a handwritten sign in Foley Square at New York City’s Youth Climate Strike this past Friday. It was a question clearly aimed at adults who have ignored the climate crisis for so long that it will be catastrophic by 2030, posed by children who fear they have no real future. On Friday afternoon, young people gathered in the thousands, rallied by their contemporary leaders in climate justice. Marching down Broadway, one section of the crowd engaged in call and response with a megaphone-enhanced voice: “What do we want?” “Climate justice!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” For a while, it was hard to see where the chant was coming from, because its source was under five feet tall, his megaphone covered with “VOTE” and “Water Is Life” stickers.

Daron Murphy, the co-founder of Art Not War, has attended and organized progressive political actions for the past two decades. These days, he puts his energy more into legislative change, unsure of how effective protests actually are. “A lot of times people feel like when they participate in a protest or a rally, that they’ve done their job. They’ve participated and now they can go back to their regular lives,” he noted. But on his way into Manhattan, his mood changed. The train downtown was full of teenagers who were out in full force. “When the doors opened at Foley Square, everyone just erupted into this incredible chant about climate justice. It literally sent a chill down my spine, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes.” Over in Los Angeles, his wife, Art Not War founder Laura Dawn, was marching with their 6-year-old daughter who later joined in stopping traffic with other protestors.

There was a familial camaraderie in New York, as parents introduced their children to the environment of a protest and high-school best friends lead chants while standing on trash cans. Some teens occupied Urban Outfitters, holding their signs in the store windows. Out on the street, one mother had her baby strapped to her chest, holding a sign that read “Class of 2037.” Can we make a difference before then?

Photographer Shana Jade captured scenes from the strike for Vogue.