March for Science Organizer: 'Titans' Like Einstein, Galileo, Carson Engaged With Politics

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On Earth Day, tens of thousands turned out for the March for Science in Washington, D.C., despite the rain, celebrating ideas, facts, and empirical data whileย chastisingย climate scienceย deniers.

Celebrity science educator Bill Nye, honorary co-chair of the March for Science, told the crowd,ย โ€œWe are marching today to remind people everywhere, our lawmakers especially, of the significance of science for our health and our prosperity.โ€ The crowd roared their approval when he said they โ€œcould change theย world.โ€ย 

Bill Nye the Science Guy speaking before the March for Science.
Before the March for Science started in Washington, D.C., Bill Nye tells the marchers that they have to power to change theย world.

The seeds for the March for Science were planted at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., the day after Donald Trumpโ€™s inauguration.ย The suggestion that what was needed next was a march for science spread on social media like a weed, culminatingย in over 600 official satellite marches on Earth Day, all around theย world.ย 

The march organizers called on โ€œpolitical leaders and policymakers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest.โ€ They assertedย that:

โ€œAnti-science agendas and policies have been advanced by politicians on both sides of the aisle, and they harm everyone โ€” without exception. Science should neither serve special interests nor be rejected based on personal convictions. At its core, science is a tool for seeking answers. It can and should influence policy and guide our long-termย decision-making.โ€

An anti-Trump sign at the March for Science.
One of the many anti-Trump signs in the mix at the March for Science in Washington,ย D.C.ย 

Man holding sign making fun of Trump's climate science denial.
Man holding a sign pointing fun at Trumpโ€™s climate denial stanceย at the March for Science in Washington D.C.

While the march wasnโ€™t about politics,ย per se, many of the marchers’ signs were. One said, โ€œMar-a-Largo wonโ€™t be around much longer thanks to Trumpโ€™s lack of action on climate change.โ€ย Another suggested regulations for eliminating Trumpโ€™s toxicย comments.

The march and rally included science supporters as well as scientists. Those I spoke with were quick to explain their love of science and concern about climate change denial.ย Countless signs shared verbal and visual messages reflecting these issues.ย ย 

Elise Filipowicz and her family hold signs at the science teach-ins.
Elise Filipowicz with her family, checking out the โ€œteach-inโ€ tents on the National Mall where science classes wereย held.

Poet Jane Hirshfield speaking before the March for Science.
Poet Jane Hirshfield, speaking at a rally before the March for Science in Washington,ย D.C.ย 

Pointing to the common ground between poetry and science, poet Jane Hirshfield composed a poem for the March for Science, which spoke to the threatening political climate in which science and society currently areย operating:ย 

โ€œThe facts were told not toย speak

and were takenย away.

The facts, surprised to be taken, wereย silent.โ€

David Hassler, director of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, set up a Poets for Science tent on the National Mall near others where science teach-ins were held. This last minute addition to the teach-ins fulfilled a request by Hirshfield, and Hassler spoke to me about the connection between the arts and science. โ€œThe two are inseparable,โ€ he said, both stemming fromย inspiration.ย 

Beka Economopoulos leads the front of the March for Science in D.C.
Beka Economopoulos guiding the March for Science along Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., on Earthย Day.

Before the march, I interviewed Beka Economopoulos, co-founder of the pop-up educational initiative known as The Natural History Museum and one of the marchโ€™s national organizers.ย โ€œWe have taken a quantum leap forward as far as ย the role of science in society and the public sphere.ย It used to be the case science institutions wouldnโ€™t touch advocacy or politics with a 10 foot pole,ย butย the question of the politicalization of science? That ship has sailed.ย Science has always been politics,โ€ sheย said.

Economopoulos was blown away by how many scientists and science institutions are saying, โ€œWe have to speak outโ€ andย โ€œWe have to stand up for science that stands forย the common good.โ€ She applauded theย avalanche of articles debating scienceโ€™s role in politics which have been published over the last fewย months.

โ€œPeople are championing evidence-based policy, basic research, and science as the pursuit of truth,โ€ she said. โ€œBut climate science, medical research, the very kinds of science people care about are on the chopping block.ย These attacks on science are attacks on our families, our communities, and our collectiveย future.โ€ย 

As for the role of science in politics, Economopoulos says science and politics have always been intermingled. She cited science historianย Naomi Oreskes’ keynote speech at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Economopoulos said that, according to Oreskes,ย history shows thatย when scientists have spoken out politically and engaged in activism, it didnโ€™t damage orย undermine their credibility or the legitimacy of their scientificย claims.ย 

People holding signs in the March for Science.
People brave the damp weather at the March for Science in Washington, D.C.

Medea Benjamin, founder of Code Pink, holds an Einstein mask and sign connecting science and war.
Medeaย Benjamin, founder of anti-war group Code Pink, with others from Code Pink holding signs reminding people ofย Einsteinโ€™sย stance againstย war.ย 

Sign about Trump and National Institutes of Health funding.
A sign from the march in D.C. listing the government-funded National Institutes of Health (NIH) and one of itsย products.

Economopolous went on to list prominent examples of scientists who did not stay silent when their pursuit of science intersected withย politics:

โ€œEinstein, who spoke out about nuclear weapons, Galileo and Rachel Carson โ€” these are figures who were very engaged in politics and the public arena. They are titans in terms of human understanding of the natural world and ourselves and the universe, so this claim that by engaging in activism you are undermining the scientific enterprise has no basis inย reality.โ€ย 

The honorary co-chair of the March for Science, Mona Hanna-Attisha, was chosen because she is an example of a โ€œscientist who speaks truth to power,โ€ Economopoulos said.ย ย 

Hanna-Attisha is director of the Michigan State University-Hurley Childrenโ€™s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative. She was the scientist who proved that Flint, Michigan, had lead in its water. She stood up toย numerous EPA scientists who said everything wasย fine.ย 

โ€œThat took courage,โ€ Economopoulos said. โ€œTrailblazing scientists who came before her and those who are operating today are our heroes. Theyย are performing science that serves the public good and pursues truth on behalf of the people and theย planet.โ€

Economopoulos celebrates all those whoย shine a spotlight on truth, including members of the media and activists who buck assumptions made by the Trumpย administration.ย 

Before the march, President Trump stated, โ€œRigorous science is critical to my administrationโ€™s efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection.โ€ He also tweeted that he supports environmental protection that supports job growth, suggestingย thatย protecting the world from climate change killsย jobs.ย 

Maybe the message from the science marches across the country got to Trump. Usually when he feels slighted, he lashes out on Twitter, butย on the Sunday after, his feed made no mention ofย science.

My most telling encounter at the March for Science was with a toxicologist with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She was standing outside one of the teach-in tents, keeping a watchful eye on her daughter. When I asked her about anything connected to the EPA, she stopped me short and refused to comment, her silence a sign of theย times.ย 

A sign left at the Capitol after the March for Science says 'Ignorance is un-American. I stand with science.'
One of the signs carried during the March for Science in Washington, D.C., left behind on a fence near the Capitolย building.

A girl known as Little Miss Flint on the shoulders of marchers at the front of the Science March.
Little Miss Flint, whose real name is Mari Copeny and is known for writing former President Obama a letter about Flintโ€™s water, stands in the front line of those taking part in the March for Science in Washington,ย D.C.ย 

Ivory Dean holds her sign in the rain saying 'Girls just wanna have FUNding. Asking me about my research.'
Ivory Dean, a breast cancer researcher at the March for Science in Washington, D.C.

Breaking Bad TV show character Jesse is shown on a sign at the March for Science.
Jesse from the TV show Breaking Bad on a sign held by one of the marchers at the March for Science in Washington, D.C.

A young girl in a "Smart Girls Rule" t-shirt holds a sign over her head to avoid the rain at the March for Science
A young girl using her sign to protect her from rain drops that fell on and off during the March for Science in Washington, D.C.

Marchers gathered at the Capitol Building after the Science March.
After the March for Science, people gathered with their signs in front of the Capitol building beforeย dispersing.ย 

Fish scientist Norma Salcedo holds her sign supporting natural history collections
Norma Salcedo, anย ichthyologistย based inย South Carolinaย who studies catfish in the Amazon is concerned about cuts to science programs by the Trump administrationย andย how they willย impactย already underfunded natural history collections across theย county.ย 

Person holding a March for Science sign drawing on the Periodic Table and calling for people to "think."
One of the many science-themed signs calling for a return to reasonย at the March for Science in Washington, D.C.

Main image:ย Bill Nye the Science Guy, wearing his signature bow tie, in the center of the front line of the March for Science in Washington, D.C.ย All photos by Julieย Dermansky.ย 

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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