Climate & environment The rebel mothers: "The election should only be about the climate"

The mothers hold up the placards for the climate

 

Of: 

Mikaela Somnell 

 

Published: Today 19.28 NEWS 

 

Sitting in a circle on the ground with placards and boots, the "rebel mothers" demonstrated against climate change. 

 

Many cried. 

 

- The situation is so desperate, says mother of three Amanda Sturm. 

 

Extinction Rebellion, which uses peaceful civil disobedience to raise the climate issue, on Saturday gathered the group of "rebel mothers" for a protest action on Drottninggatan in Stockholm.

 

Sitting in a ring on the ground with some members lying in the middle in the shape of an hourglass, Extinction Rebellion's symbol, they brave the rainy weather.

 

Women of all ages hold up placards with the names and ages of their children and grandchildren. Some have their children with them. Among others, Kali Andersson, who feeds her little son Eddie, 1.5 years old, in the circle. 

 

Doctor and mother of young children Amanda Sturm stands by and hands out leaflets. 

 

- I have three small children, all under the age of eight, and I have done a lot in the climate fight. I don't want to have to be here. But in the end you don't know what to do. The politicians are not taking their responsibility, we have to be more, she says. 

 

 

 

Kali Andersson and her son Eddie, 1.5 years old, from Gnesta, participate in a climate demonstration at the Brogatan-Drottninggatan intersection in Stockholm Photo: Lotte Fernvall/Aftonbladet 

 

"Have tried to influence legally" 

 

She has come here with her colleague Shabane Barot. They cry and hold each other when Aftonbladet approaches them.

 

- When you live with these issues and have done so for a very long time and have tried in many legal ways to influence... And finally end up here. 

 

Then you feel that "I don't want to end up here, but the situation is so terribly desperate", says Amanda Sturm as the tears flow.

 

 

The rebel mothers are part of the climate movement Extinction Rebellion. Photo: Lotte Fernvall/Aftonbladet 

 

 

Climate manifestation at the Brogatan-Drottninggatan intersection in Stockholm. Photo: Lotte Fernvall/Aftonbladet 

 

She explains that she feels discomfort when she thinks about what the world might look like when her own children have grown up. At the same time, she does not think that the politicians take their responsibility. 

 

- No political party dares to tell the truth about what really needs to be done. I think this election should really only be about the climate crisis, but it isn't. 

 

But she has not lost hope, she says. 

 

- We cannot stop thinking that the democratic form is the best and that is what we must continue to encourage.