In an effort to socially distance while firmly putting their feet down in support of climate justice, the Society of Fearless Grandmothers Santa Barbara on Saturday afternoon placed about 500 pairs of shoes outside the Santa Barbara County Administration Building in Santa Barbara in a person-less protest called Shoe Strike for Climate Justice.
A number of onlookers, the majority of them wearing masks, stopped by to check out the event at 105 E. Anapamu St. It was sponsored in cooperation with 350 Santa Barbara and the Greta Thunberg Fridays for Future international organization.
The Society of Fearless Grandmothers had been collecting donations of shoes from people in the community during the past few weeks. The footwear ranged from sneakers and strappy sandals to boots and children’s shoes.
Modeled after the SkolStrejk movement that started in Sweden, shoe strikes have been held worldwide on the last Saturday of each month. They are designed to raise awareness about the need for climate justice and to demand that elected officials at all levels of government take swift action to address the climate crisis as well as the social and economic effects of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
To protect the Earth and its inhabitants, climate justice advocates want elected officials to:
» Deny any new permits for fossil fuel projects.
» Focus responses to the COVID-19 crisis on a just transition from the fossil fuel economy.
» Protect people and the environment — not corporate profit.
» End systemic oppression to stop the long history of racial and economic injustice.
The next Shoe Strike for Climate Justice is planned for Aug. 29.