Extinction Rebellion Funeral Procession at Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, Massachusetts, to Mourn The Sixth Mass Extinction.

"Complacency Equals Death"

Today I participated in a creative, social engagement of non violent direct action and civil disobedience with environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion Boston, my Dharma teacher and Zen priest Myozen Joan Amaral, some fellow Zen Center North Shore Sangha members, Zen priest Daishin Mark Nelson of Sweeping Heart Zen, Gloucester, fellow Buddhists & non Buddhist activists.

We walked the beach,, solemn & serene, singing "They're digging us a hole... six feet underground", a song written by recording artist Melodeego, to a tribal like sounding drumbeat and gentle acoustic guitar by XR Rebel Dave St. Germaine. We slowly proceeded along the entire length of Good Harbor Beach, and at a few intervals, stopped to gather in moments of silence standing in a circle in the rising tide. We sang songs and chanted, and then continued on in this manner the entire length of the beach and back. Many were holding signs warning of the sixth mass extinction, of the climate crisis and loss of all life on earth. There were also three coffins being carried by pall bearers.

There were around 45 of us participating in this procession. I first became aware of Extinction Rebellion when XR rebels Dave St Germain and Karin Myers, a Buddhist scholar and professor of Buddhist studies, visited us at the Zen Center to give a talk and presentation on the climate crisis and what can be done about it.  I decided to get involved with XR and am looking forward to participating in future actions of civil disobedience with them.   Our planet is in dire peril if we continue with business as usual.

Here are some of the photos I captured today.

All photographs are copyright © protected. & owned by Lita Xú Líng Kelley. Contact for use licensing or purchasing photograph(s)

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