'No planet B': Global Climate Strike draws significant turnout in Milwaukee

“Save our future, save our future,” a class of second graders chanted Friday from their seats around the fountain near the North Point Tower in Milwaukee.  

They raised Manila folders with colorful block-lettering with similar messages. Their cause: climate change.

The class from Greenfield Bilingual School was among a significant crowd that gathered Friday to call for immediate action to address the threat.

Despite being just 7 and 8 years old, they were anything but out of place. The crowd that gathered Friday included a significant number of students.

The rally was part of the Global Climate Strike that took place around the world. Students nationwide left school to attend.

"It's really, really heartwarming to see that they care about this type of thing," organizer Ayanna Lee, 17, herself a student at Rufus King International High School, said of the second graders. "But it's also really sad that they had to leave their school day in elementary school to come out and tell their legislators and people who are supposed to be protecting them that they are destroying their lives and they need something done about it now."

The events kick off a week of climate activism at the United Nations.

Addressing the crowd, Lee said the climate crisis is no longer a catastrophe on the horizon.

"We are living in it. We are striking now because it is already too late," said Lee, co-executive director of the Youth Climate Action Team of Wisconsin.

She said she was surprised by the turnout and thankful that people took time out from work and school to attend.

Marchers said they wanted elected officials to know they're not going away. 

Maleak Taylor, 15, who attends North Division High School, said he wants to make sure his generation's children have a planet they can enjoy. 

The turnout shows that people really care about this issue, he said. 

"This is more than words," Taylor said.

If elected leaders don't take action, he said, people concerned about climate change will just push harder.

The march started Friday morning at City Hall before the blocks-long group walked to the tower.

Barbara Overstreet had just parked her car at her Prospect Avenue residence Friday when she heard chanting on the street.

What greeted her was a steady stream of marchers stretching blocks in either direction.

“It’s great,” she said as the chanting crowd continued by.

The group marched carrying signs demanding action on climate change and cycling between a series of slogans. A popular sign read, "There is no planet B." 

At the front of the march, Lee was among those holding a large sign that said, "Our house is on fire."

Cars along the route honked in support, inciting cheers.

A future generation of leaders

Emily Schoenfelder said with the march being youth-led, it's important for elected leaders to see that if they don't fix the climate crisis, they will be replaced with a new generation that cares about the Earth and that will make the changes needed to fix the problem.

Craig Machut, an environmental science teacher at Rufus King International High School, said the high school had about 75 students present.

He said students come into class now understanding climate change and wanting to act.

And while his students can't vote now, they will soon, he said.

"They're voting with their social media likes, they're voting with their follows, they're voting with their money and they're voting with their statements, their actions," he said. "And in a couple years they're going to be voting with their votes, and these are issues to them that really matter."

As the march headed out, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett thanked marchers for coming to City Hall.

"These marches are organic," he told the Journal Sentinel. "Obviously they're people of all ages and all backgrounds, and I think they're an energizing tool for people."

As to the marches' power to effect change, he said he's optimistic because he thinks this will be a major issue in the next election.

Shorewood School District communications and advancement specialist Katelin Watson said that 30 Shorewood High School students were participating in Friday's rally and march.

In a letter to district families, the Shorewood district said the rally was not considered school sponsored and was not school supervised once students left campus.

The letter also said that students who wanted to participate in the rally needed to have their parents call the school attendance office to excuse their absence. Absences not called into the school attendance office were considered to be unexcused.

At Wauwatosa East High School, a demonstration organized by the Tosa East Environmental Club took place prior to the start of the day’s classes, District Communications Coordinator Keller Russell said.

Some adults also joined the protest.

Russell said club members connected with East Principal Nick Hughes in advance.

The club has become “really active” over the last few years, according to Hughes.

“Our students have a passion for the environment and preservation of our resources,” Hughes said. “Many people passing school in the morning beeped and waved at the students in support. It was also encouraging to see a few neighborhood and community adults present to support the event and our students.”

Hughes said there were between 25 and 30 students and adults present for the morning rally.

The rally was organized by TEEC member Emma Stevens, a sophomore at Tosa East who said the Earth is warming and political leaders need to act.

“It was important to demonstrate because our government isn’t doing enough to confront the issue our climate is facing,” Stevens said. “And we want to raise attention to that.”

In addition to the rally at East, Stevens said she and other East students attended the demonstration in Milwaukee.

In Madison, protesters circled the Capitol over the lunch hour wearing shirts that said "Strike with me" and waving homemade signs, including one that said, "Don't be a fossil fool!" In the evening, hundreds of them filled the Capitol and chanted, "Tell the truth!" and other slogans.

"I am inspired by the thousands of high school students in Madison and across America who are leading the way and teaching us about the urgent need for a comprehensive response to the climate crisis," Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement.

Journal Sentinel reporter Patrick Marley and Now News Group reporters Bob Dohr and Alec Johnson contributed to this report.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.