Cheney Munson sings an original song about climate change at the first Bay Area Cool Down event. Credit: Macie Parker
The rain had finally ended. Friends and family gathered in a circle, standing on top of chalk drawings of ocean creatures and doodles imagined by children. And Cheney Munson, founder of the Climate Scope Project, a Bay Area nonprofit that promotes classroom climate literacy, pulled out his guitar.
“We’re all going to sing together,” Munson said. “And if you have a climate sock puppet, please put it on, and when the chorus comes, have your sock puppet singalong.”
Pooja Verma, a high school senior and founder of Eco Innovate and Brushstrokes for the Bay, sings with her sock puppet. Credit: Macie Parker
The first Bay Area Climate Cool Down brought the heat to the Starry Plough in Berkeley on Oct. 25 for a fundraiser featuring Bay Area artists, musicians and drag performers. About 300 people attended.
“Part of justice and resistance to what’s happening now is fun and joy,” Munson said. It’s an “intergenerational event that can spotlight the people doing good work, and inspire people who are there to then become positive outliers themselves.”
The goal was to raise $3,500 for the Induction Cooktop Teaching Project, an Oakland-based nonprofit that helps families in the Oakland Unified School District switch from gas to electric stoves to improve indoor air quality instead of releasing harmful pollutants. Some proceeds from the event also went to Bay Area climate literacy projects.
The Induction Cooktop Teaching Project educates students on how electric stoves are used, how they can improve their family’s health and how gas stoves contribute to fossil fuel pollution, according to Aaron Reaven, project lead.
Meet Pachal teaches school children about electric stoves. Credit: Macie Parker
Thousands of Oakland children have asthma, and the air quality in West Oakland is worse than other neighborhoods in the city, according to the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, which includes the induction project.
“When people are burning fossil gas in their kitchens, people don’t realize they’re harming themselves,” Reaven said.
Every $140 donation the organization receives pays for one induction stove kit for a family, Raven said.
During the event, Prince Street became vibrant and colorful with a life-size chalk drawing of a humpback whale. Sukey Bryan, an independent environmental artist drew the outline, and by the end of the event, the whale was filled with bright, environmental doodles from community members.
“I try to do pieces that can engage people and make them feel hopeful and make them feel a physical manifestation of the idea that if we all do a little, it adds up to a lot,” Bryan said.
Many young people are anxious about climate change, and events like the Cool Down that encourage hope instead of dread, can empower them to take action, Munson said.
Children drawing with chalk. Credit: Macie Parker
Public art has historically been used for advocacy, said Pooja Verma, a high school senior and founder of Eco Innovate and Brushstrokes for the Bay, youth-led environmental organizations.
As a young person, Verma said she uses art as a way to express her feelings and opinions on climate change because often, it’s her only way to be heard.
The event later moved inside the Starry Plough, with live performances. People were on their feet, dancing to live music from Coco Simone, Affectionately, Abby Frense, Kingdream and other local musicians.
Clementina Martinez-Masarweh leads an upcycled sock puppet activity. Credit: Macie Parker
Later, a climate drag show featured performances by Helixer, L.D. Hablo and VERA!, a drag king who was recently on tour with Pattie Gonia, a popular environmental drag queen and activist.
“Everything is really hard, so if you can have fun while fighting for things that are very important, that’s just the best,” VERA! said. “We have one life, but we also can’t live it if we don’t have a planet to live it on.”
VERA! performs in a climate drag show. Credit: Macie Parker
Munson hopes the event will be the first of many Bay Area Cool Downs, with even bigger lineups in larger venues.
“We are all, kind of, lanterns in the dark,” Munson said. “And we glow a whole lot brighter when we’re connected to each other.”
Macie Parker is a student at the UC Berkeley journalism school.
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