When I saw for the first time signs of the Extinction Rebellion movement I was biking to the office, in Amsterdam. I was in front of the Rijksmuseum, right in the center.
The traffic had been blocked by a group of people, not many, they could have been around 30, maybe even less. They were waving around banners about a revolution that is coming, about the need for rebellion against what’s killing the Earth – ironically, us.
I didn’t give it much credit. Of course I am supportive, but taking to the streets has never really been my thing.
And yet, after that episode, those signs have been multiplying. I started seeing banners and manifestos by Extinction Rebellion, I read about them in the news, I was stopped on a bridge in Maastricht, given some fliers, provided with info on what should be done to stop the catastrophe that’s ahead, for us and our planet.
And then more signs, when this summer heatwaves arrived, together with tornadoes, stone-sized hail, droughts, death, to remind us that a rebellion might be needed indeed, and that everyone must play its part.
I draw political cartoons so that’s what I did, and I perfectly know it’s not – not even by far – enough. But it’s a way, for me, to reflect on the possibility of our extinction from another perspective and better understand how – and if, if – to stop it.
Because in fact, rebelling against extinction doesn’t mean we need to save ourselves, we need to stop our extinction. We need, instead, to save all the other human beings we are killing, first. Save them from us.
So this is my latest for Renewable Matter. It pairs up with a must-read editorial by Emanuele Bompan, you can find it here! http://www.renewablematter.eu/en/art/1137/XR
DelRosso Studio 