Edmund Rice International and Deignan Institute at Iona University Join Climate March Targeting Citibank

On Sunday, August 25, a large contingent of several hundred climate activists joined a march in NYC to challenge the role of CitiBank, with Headquarters in New York City,  as a primary lender to the fossil fuel industry.  Sister Kathleen Deignan, CND, Founder of the Deignan Institute for Earth and Spirit was joined by Br. Kevin Cawley,  Main Representative of ERI at United Nations in NY and Director of the Thomas Berry Forum for Ecological Dialogue. 

The march was organised by Summer of Heat  an organisation a multiracial, multigenerational, cross-class movement for a campaign of sustained nonviolent direct action that demands that Wall Street stop investing in, financing, and insuring fossil fuels.

Marchers assembled in Washington Square at the site of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911 which killed over 146 workers, mainly women and girls.  Organizers note:    “They died because of callous corporate greed and business owners who did not recognize their right to safe and dignified lives,” the website explains. “Today, hundreds of thousands of people are dying from climate-induced fires, extreme heat, flooding, and air pollution. The cause is the same — corporate greed, racism, and a callous disregard for life. Just as the women of 1911 took the streets to change their conditions, we will march and fight like hell for the living.” The climate crisis targets all but not all equally,   –  women and girls suffer the impacts of climate change disproportionately around the world.

The line of march moved from Washington Square to eventually conclude at the Manhattan residence of Jane Fraser, CEO of Citibank.