Holland Residents Join Global Climate Strike

HOLLAND, Mich. – Holland residents joined the Global Climate Strike with a march through downtown and ended with presentations at the Holland Area Arts Council Friday night.

Holland Climate Strike organizer and Black River High School freshman, Hannah Huggett, greets marchers outside Holland Area Arts Council.

            The march, organized by Black River High School freshman Hannah Huggett, began in Centennial Park and took marchers down 8th Street. Unlike most protests around the country where students skipped school, Huggett explained that doing the march in the evening was a mindful decision.

            “Mainly, it was because we wanted support from the adults to send the message that youth are not alone in this and that there are many wonderful adults who love and support us and then another reason would be because I think some kids, they would use it as an excuse to get out of school and they don’t really care about the issue, you know, so doing it at night gives me the change to have various different speakers covering different aspects of the issue and they can really education people on how they can make a difference,” she said.

 At the Holland Area Arts Council, demonstrators filled the main gallery for art, music, poetry and speeches. Huggett began the night by saying that climate change is a non-partisan issue and that solutions can be broken up by individual, communal and corporate action.

            “I see three steps as being essential to an activist call to action. Being knowable about an issue, seeing something in your community or world that is a problem linked to the issue that needs to be changed or improved and recognizing the connection to the issue,” she said.

The presentation continued with students Molly Huggett and Jose Padillin sharing poetry, an unveiling of an art piece made from household waste titled “Footprint” and a presentation by Hope College Students Alec Berrodin and Katelyn Dewitt on the environmental value of trees around the campus and city.  

Afterwards, Huggett said that Holland is a conservative community but hopes that the march and presentation show the importance of the climate issue.

“This is something that its youth care about and that its also a message that it’s not a partisan issue and that could be really powerful for people to hear because when it’s not politically related, they’ll be a lot more inclined to get involved,’ she said.