A lineup of all-star, all-women keynote speakers kicked off Saturday’s March For Science in Foley Square, located in downtown New York City.
Marches were held at some 100 locations worldwide as part of a global day of action. Speakers at the NYC march touched on issues ranging from climate change and a Green New Deal to sexual harassment, gender inequity, and activism within STEM.
Dr. BethAnn McLaughlin, an MIT Disobedience Prize Winner and founder of #MeTooSTEM, led the charge. She was joined by marine biologist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, 13-year-old climate activist Alexandria Villaseñor, and grassroots organizer Aracely Jimenez-Hudis.
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“I have a lot of qualms about marching for science bc science has left so many behind...so I’m not marching for science — I’m marching for scientists,” McLaughlin tweeted during the march. “For scientists everywhere so that they can wake up and go to work and be safe!!!”
I have a lot of qualms about marching for science bc science has left so many behind... so I’m not marching for science - I’m marching for scientists
— McLNeuro (@McLNeuro) May 4, 2019
For scientists everywhere so that they can wake up and go to work and be safe!!!
— McLNeuro (@McLNeuro) May 4, 2019
Johnson, also a marine policy expert as well as founder and CEO of the conservation consulting firm Ocean Collectiv, reminded the New York City crowd about the need for diversity in the industry.
“To be honest, I’m pretty sick of people being so damn surprised that someone who looks like me is a Ph.D scientist,” Johnson said, pointing out the glaring lack of women, especially women of color, in her field. Her anecdotal experiences are backed up by hard data: according to a 2018 UNESCO Institute for Statistics report, less than 30% of scientists and researchers worldwide are women.
“This is what a scientist looks like.” What a privilege to hear @ayanaeliza speak at the NYC #MarchForScience pic.twitter.com/raIqecSerY
— Emma C. Hutchinson (@emmachutchinson) May 4, 2019
Johnson called on marchers to change that statistic. “This is what a scientist looks like,” she said to loud applause.
Young activists spoke up at the march, including Villaseñor, who helped organize the first-ever global youth climate strike in March. On Saturday, Villaseñor called for investment in science education and tangible action on climate change.
“If the adults in power were doing their jobs, we wouldn’t be in a climate emergency, and young people like me wouldn’t have to grow up worrying about the planet and our future,” she said.
Listening to the amazing youth activist @AlexandriaV2005 speak at the #MarchForScience NYC. Wish I had been this together at 13! Activists in @usclimatestrike @ThisIsZeroHour @GretaThunberg are showing adults how it’s done. pic.twitter.com/Ycdt5KUufE
— Emma C. Hutchinson (@emmachutchinson) May 4, 2019
22-year-old Jimenez-Hudis, who works with the grassroots organization Sunrise Movement, echoed Villaseñor’s sentiments and called for policy changes with an emphasis on the future: “We are going to win when millions of us — young people, students, scientists, farmers, indigenous communities, working-class folks, black and brown communities like mine — are taking action every single day until we win a Green New Deal,” she said. “We have to get involved, and we have to stop thinking that someone else is going to build a movement for us.”
Here’s @_Arajh of @sunrisemvmt breaking down how the Green New Deal will work for everyone at #MarchForScience pic.twitter.com/MgITq2TY9N
— March For Science NYC MAY 4 (@sciencemarchnyc) May 4, 2019
The global day of action called for “the open access of scientific information to the general public, the use of science for the common good and in the preservation of an informed democracy, [and] the protection of human and environmental rights,” according to the March For Science’s official website.