Citizens Climate Lobby in the 2023 Pasadena Black History Parade!

All of us in Citizens' Climate Lobby are concerned and alarmed about the effects of climate change, and we know the best way to face and mitigate the causes is to bring people together to push our government representatives for strong actions, such as a price on carbon.  We need to make our efforts known to more people outside of our current CCL circles, and we can have some fun in doing it! We want to have an entry in the Pasadena Black History Parade on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023 and it is time to start planning.  Let's reach out to the Black community in the greater Pasadena area! 

First orders of business are to try to identify some people in that community to join us, help develop a theme for our entry, and to work out a plan. Come help start us out by thinking of people we already know (and maybe friends of friends?) who are part of that community and strategize how to meet more of them, and let’s look particularly to find people with climate concerns. Should we use dinosaurs as an image of what it is like to face an increasingly unlivable world, like we did in October's Latino Heritage Parade? Or can we find another way to make an impact with our presence?  Can we reach people and families in the local church community, schools system, daycare, NAACP, the California Museum of African American History, the trailhead at Eaton Canyon? Where else? Bring your ideas, or just come to brainstorm together to find possibilities!

Some background from our organizer and Memership Commitee-member, Rex:
I am on the official committee for planning the 2023 Pasadena Black History Parade and Festival as I was in 2020, just before the COVID shutdown, when we had our first entry in the parade. I just attended my first meeting for the 2023 event this past week.  In 2019/20, I attended meetings and posted signs and knocked on doors to help publicize the event. Through the Committee, I found the AlkebuLan Cultural Center, an arts center in Northwest Pasadena, focused on African Americans. The director there put me in touch with one of her volunteers , Felecia Lenee, who was also concerned about climate, and Felecia developed the the idea of using Octavia Butler, the renowned Black Pasadena author who grew up near the parade route, and her book, Parable of the Sower as the theme for our entry.  The novel describes a Southern California under the ravages of climate change which had evolved further beyond what we are seeing today, with serious hunger, lawlessness, and hardship. Fires and unrest were frequent and worsening. It was a challenge to depict this novel in a parade, featuring a bit of street theater, but the theme was very much “of the community.” We can’t say whether we’ll have the same fortune in finding a theme that matches well with the community, but we can aim for the best effect we can come up with. 
You can see a description and photos of our 2020 effort here: https://rmayreis.wixsite.com/blackhistoryparade 
and you can see us in the official parade video on YouTube - we come on the scene at 2:05 point of the parade.
Let’s see what we can do in 2023!

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https://youtu.be/LSMX3Vlvzds

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