VIDEO: Norman Solomon Speaks at Healdsburg's Earth Day

Note: This story was updated on Tuesday, April 24, to add videos of Norman Solomon and other speakers.

The was event central for the on Saturday. It has grown from a small, school-only affair in 2002, to a communitywide event by 2010.

Attendance was  around 300 people at any given hour, though the number changed throughout the day, as people arrived and left. Some were there to hear a single speaker, while others stayed for much of the day.

Event planners integrated sustainability and social justice into the Earth Day Celebration. Speakers included progressive , KPFA’s Miguel Molina, Climate Protection Campaign’s Amy Jolly, the Committee for Immigrant Rights’ Rosa Azucena Becerra and North Bay Organizing Project’s Ivis Sanchez and

“We had to make a couple of changes to the schedule,” said Progressive Club member Aaron Miller. “Our turnout is better than in the past.

“We hope that people will come and listen to what the speakers have to say,” Miller continued, “then do something.”

In addition to the speakers, a number of local bands, a dance troupe, drummers and the “Yo-Yo Man” entertained the audience.

“The event is going very well,” said HHS teacher and Progressive Club advisor Rebel Fagin, who was present throughout the day. “We’re trying to get to the root of the problem instead of just scratching the surface. We’re dealing with economic injustice because it is part of dealing with the environment.

“The kids are working hard; they can do anything,” continued Fagin. “They are very together with their leadership.”

Members of the Progressive Club were active during the day, acting as emcees and coordinating speakers and music.

“I don’t agree with all the views [held by other members of the Progressive Club],” said Esther Unti. “For me, it’s one more source to get information. But as far as the environment, regardless of race, religion, politics or sex, we’d better be caring about it.

“We deserve it to be a decent place to live, and it [the Earth] deserves it,” Unti said.

Earth Day was established on April 22, 1970, after the stage was set for the environmental movement by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962.

U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisc.) was inspired to create the event after seeing the devastating oil spill off the Santa Barbara Coast in 1969.

In 1970, more than 20 million people met, marched and demonstrated for the environment in one of the most comprehensive bipartisan supported events ever.

It brought together farmers and city dwellers, students and seniors, the wealth and the poor. It led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).