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Celebrities, activists, and concerned citizens will be taking to MacArthur Park Sunday afternoon for a rally focused on drawing attention and inspiring engagement around climate change issues. Actors Shailene Woodley, Susan Sarandon, Ed Begley Jr. and Frances Fisher will all be speaking at the rally, along with filmmaker Deia Schlosberg—a documentarian currently facing a possible 45-year prison sentence following an arrest at the Dakota Access Pipeline earlier this month. The arrests of journalists and filmmakers protesting the pipeline (and filming at the protests) has sparked discussion of First Amendment violations. Woodley was also arrested at a Dakota Access Pipeline protest last week.
This Sunday's event, one in a series of #ClimateRevolution rallies produced by the country will focus on fracking, urban oil drilling, indigenous rights, and environmental justice.
Seven McDonald, one of the event's organizers, told LAist that the event will really be about the intersection of social justice and climate change issues. "Climate change disproportionately effects people of color and lower-income individuals, which is something that often gets left out of the discussion," McDonald said. "A pipeline is more likely to go through the Standing Rock reservation—the Siouxes are some of the poorest people in the nation—as opposed to, say, Beverly Hills."
The rally and speakers will begin at 4:30 p.m. and Ozomatli will perform at 6:30 p.m. An outdoor screening of How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change, the new documentary from Oscar-nominated director Josh Fox (Gasland) will follow. The documentary was produced by Deia Schlosberg. Bring an outdoor blanket to watch the movie on the grass, and preferably a blanket that you might be willing to part with! Organizer are inviting attendees to consider bringing old blankets and sheets to sit on, which they will then collect, wash, and donate to a local homeless organization.
