Extinction Rebellion Die-In Takes Place in Front of UC Berkeley's Sather Gate

On the morning of November 8, UC Berkeley's Extinction Rebellion (XR) group held its inaugural "die-in," directly in front of Sather Gate, in hopes of raising awareness of and advocating for action against the climate crisis.

One of the members of the Extinction Rebellion’s die-in. (Source: Vlada Lipkind)

 Armed with banners marked by XR's signature hourglasses and accompanied by a group of adult activists from the San Francisco Bay Area's Extinction Rebellion, the group lay down in dramatic poses with limbs jutting out from all angles, as if dead. Around their necks hung signs labeling their causes of death, from “death by drought,” to smoke, to flood, heat stroke, and fire. Many other signs simply read “Act Now.”

Anna Goldings, a second-year student majoring in interdisciplinary studies at UC Berkeley, founded the UC Berkeley division of XR after she realized many of the actions of campus’s environmental clubs did not match the severity of the climate crisis.

“Our timelines didn’t put us on track for a livable future,” said Goldings. “I looked more into Extinction Rebellion and they were the only group that was dealing with the crisis on the scale in which it needs to be addressed in order to save people’s lives.” 

The Extinction Rebellion movement was founded in October 2018, when 1,500 people assembled together in Parliament Square in London, announcing a Declaration of Rebellion against the UK government. Joined in a belief that the government could not be trusted to single-handedly solve the world’s problems, their philosophy centers on nonviolent civil disobedience. Their message resonated with people across the world, and XR demonstrations began to occur, from India to South Africa to California.

“If you just look across history at different huge international revolutions, mass civil disobedience is a sure-fire way to demand and receive serious systemic change,” says Goldings. In response to critics of civil disobedience, Goldings responds, “We can all bring our own straws, but maybe if we started doing that 40 years ago we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now.”

Protesters in front of Sather Gate at UC Berkeley participate in the Extinction Rebellion’s die-in. (Source: Vlada Lipkind)

Protesters in front of Sather Gate at UC Berkeley participate in the Extinction Rebellion’s die-in. (Source: Vlada Lipkind)

The groups’ worries are sincere and backed by science. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, more than a quarter of approximately 25,000 species are currently threatened with extinction: 40% of all amphibians, 25% of all mammals, 34% of all conifers, 14% of all birds, 33% of reef-building corals, and 31% of sharks and rays. The environmental crisis won’t just affect wildlife either. The National Climate Assessment clearly states extreme weather is on the rise, as is sea level, and without widespread institutional change, millions of people in the U.S. alone could be forced to move away from their current homes.

With this information in mind, the group of 25 student and adult activists planted themselves under Sather Gate at 11:00 am, signs around their necks, and began their demonstration. At various intervals, individuals took up the microphone and portable speaker and demanded that the community, university, and government act against the climate crisis. The “Act Now,” sign seemed to perfectly encapsulate their feelings.

On September 19, UC President Janet Napolitano and all 10 UC chancellors signed a climate emergency declaration letter that committed the University of California system to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.

The Extinction Rebellion movement is very wary of institutions talking the talk without walking the walk. “They can declare an emergency but not act on it. Part of XR’s first demand is that institutions have to tell the truth and then act as if the truth is real,” says Goldings.

As for this first die-in event, Goldings and the rest of the XR Berkeley team hoped to raise awareness of the movement and to provide an opportunity for people to slow down and think about the repercussions of climate change in their lives.

The Extinction Rebellion’s logo. (Source: Vlada Lipkind)

“The hope is that people who aren't thinking about the climate crisis will stop and have to think about it, because (the die-in) is going to be in their face disrupting their day. Hopefully this will stick with them, they’ll try to learn something about the crisis, and hopefully enough people will feel riled up about this existential threat that they'll want to go, if they have the privilege, to engage in civil disobedience,” said Goldings.

By 11:45 am the group had more than doubled in size to about 60 people, and they formed a circle to discuss why each of the individuals present were in attendance, and what they hoped for the future. One of the adult activists from XR SF Bay, Terri Fletcher, particularly inspired the crowd.

“I’m here in honor of my mother. My mother taught me how to be an activist. She grew up as a Jew in Nazi Germany and she saw and felt the direct results of people not standing up against injustice. She taught me that when you see something going wrong in the world, you need to something about it,” said Fletcher; “Don’t be passive.”