Official Earth Day art by Speto, acclaimed Brazilian street artist from São Paulo.
This year’s Earth Day (April 22nd) comes on the heels of the World Meteorological Organization’s 2020 Global Climate report, showing that 2020 was one of the hottest years on record and that the planet is on the verge of climate disaster if we don’t act now. It also comes amidst growing calls for the end of racialized police violence with the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd and a relentless string of other Black and brown people killed by police — many of them being children and young adults. To reflect on racism and Creation healing, we invite you to reflect on indigenous scholar and farmer, Dr. Randy Woodley’s article: White Supremacy and the Fate of the Earth.
This year, Earth Day is being officially celebrated all over the globe by EarthDay.org on April 20-23. They have put together informative forums, campaigns, and other ways to engage and we invite you to check out some of these resources. In addition to tuning in live for their program, “Earth Day Live“ at 9 AM PST, you can watch their virtual summits at any time:
Global Youth Summit: led by Earth Uprising, in collaboration with My Future My Voice, OneMillionOfUs and hundreds of youth climate activists.
We Shall All Breathe: The Hip Hop Caucus and its partners will present the “We Shall Breathe” virtual summit. This digital event will examine climate and environmental justice, connecting the climate crisis to issues of pollution, poverty, police brutality, and the pandemic, all within a racial justice framework.
Teach For the Planet: Join a group of gifted global educators and education activists to talk about the importance of climate change education and action today, for tomorrow’s change makers.
There are many more resources on their homepage including their admonition to us to celebrate Earth Day every day through their Restore Our Earth campaign, as well as history of the day (51 years in the making!) and a tool to find (mostly virtual) Earth Day events to tune into.
You can also check this Verge article for a variety of Earth Day celebrations and educational events: President Biden’s Leaders’ Summit on Climate Change (4/22-23), a virtual 5k (4/17-25), National Geographic’s Earth Day Eve Party (tonight!!), and many many more!!
On a closer-to-home scale, we encourage you to look into Earth Ministry’s broad array of events! There are some great opportunities to get involved in regional and state environmental actions. Let us know how you celebrated Earth Day, and what you’re committing to in the year ahead!