In the Name of Love: Take a Stand With Us!

Photo by Ryan Suffern, Suckatash Productions

[quote]”This is not going away. At this point of unimaginable threats on the horizon, this is what hope looks like. In these times of a morally bankrupt government that has sold out its principles, this is what patriotism looks like. With countless lives on the line, this is what love looks like, and it will only grow. The choice you are making today is what side are you on.”
-Tim DeChristopher;  July 26th, 2011;  Salt Lake City Federal Courthouse[/quote]

One week ago today, our friend Tim DeChristopher spent his first full day in jail, beginning his sustained 2-year sentence in federal prison for an act of peaceful civil disobedience.

At PowerShift 2011, Tim challenged us when he said: “Let this be the last time that we come together to make statements. From now on, our movement needs to take a stand.”

If there was ever a day, if there was ever a moment in history to stand for Climate Justice, this is that moment. We are not intimidated, we are not deterred and we will not stop until, as Martin Luther King Jr. put it, we’ve created “a society that is at peace with its conscience.”

Now is our time to build a committed movement that stands together and has each other’s back.

As Tim prepared for jail, he always insisted that we not only stand with him — but with each other.  Turning away from the labels of hero and martyr, he has constantly called on us to be our own powerful agents of change, emboldened by the constant reminder that we are not alone, that we are all connected: as fingers to a hand that can unite as a mighty fist.

In the face of blatant political corruption, Tim never backed down from his convictions. Nor should he have to. And now is OUR opportunity to respond, to breathe as a movement and to unify around a commitment to sustained nonviolent resistance.

Consider this our call to action. Because this is what taking a stand looks like.

Here are your opportunities to join the uprising:

[heading]TAR SANDS ACTION: Washington D.C., August 2011[/heading]
Tim speaks about civil disobedience on the eve of his sentencing:
[youtube width=”264″ height=”180″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b2oQHtCSuQ[/youtube]

Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline: TarSandsAction.orgJoin us in DC as we demand that Obama reject the proposed 1700-mile long Keystone XL pipeline — which would run from the tar sands of the Canadian province of Alberta down to Texas. Dr. James Hansen – America’s top climate scientist – has said that full exploitation of Canada’s tar sands would be “game over” for efforts to solve climate change. From August 20th to September 3rd, protestors will engage in daily peaceful civil disobedience.  This could be the biggest act of sustained civil disobedience in our climate movement’s history — it’s now up to us to make history.

[fancy_link link=”http://www.tarsandsaction.org/”]Visit Website[/fancy_link] [fancy_link link=”http://www.tarsandsaction.org/sign-up/”]Sign Up Here[/fancy_link] [heading]MIDWEST RISING: St. Louis,  August 2011[/heading]

From August 12th-15th, we need your help to build a movement against corporate power in St. Louis, Missouri, headquarters of Monsanto and Peabody and Arch Coal.  We will be hosting an Anti-Corporate Convergence to build this movement. The event will bring together a unique combination of community based organizations, low-income community members, environmental justice organizations, and climate activists.  We will combine hard-hitting direct action with an opportunity to take a step back and do some collaborative training and visioning of a world we want to live in. We will also have organizing skills trainings, opportunities to caucus, and time for strategizing in which cities can plan follow-up steps. This convergence could change the organizing equation in the Midwest. This is an opportunity for us to build solidarity between justice movements by taking action!

[fancy_link link=”http://convergence2011.org/”]Visit Website[/fancy_link] [fancy_link link=”http://convergence2011.org/register/”]Register Here[/fancy_link] [heading]OCCUPY DC: Washington D.C., October 2011[/heading]
The October 2011 coalition calls us to action:
[youtube width=”264″ height=”180″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P5PN_JVpL8[/youtube]

October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions. “We call on people of conscience and courage — all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment — to join together in Washington, DC, beginning on October 6th 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest Awakening.” And the best part is — there is no end date.

[fancy_link link=”http://october2011.org/”]Visit Website[/fancy_link] [fancy_link link=”http://october2011.org/register/”]Make a Pledge Here[/fancy_link] [heading]MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL: APPALACHIA, …Now![/heading]

Tim speaks to 10,000 youth at Powershift
[youtube width=”264″ height=”180″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81EZUkYzrxU[/youtube]

A native of West Virginia, Tim has always held the fight to end mountaintop removal close to his heart. Speaking to 10,000 youth this year, he challenged our movement to make real sacrifices in fighting back against the status quo.

[quote]”We could send 30 people onto a mountaintop removal site, shut it down temporarily, cost them a lot of money, start to clog up the courts systems of West Virginia. And we could send 30 people the day after that and the day after that and the day after that — every day for a year. And I don’t think we’d ever get to that year point, because mountaintop removal would end before that. Long before we got to the end of that year, Barack Obama would be forced into a choice between either ending the war against Appalachia or bringing in federal troops to continue it… And it’s our job as a movement to force him into that position.”[/quote]

2-week long tree sit on Coal River Mountain, West Virginia

Since July 20th, two activists (Becks Kolins & Catherine-Ann MacDougal) from RAMPS (Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival) campaign have been occupying trees on the Bee Tree permit on Coal River Mountain, to stand in the way of the strip mining on their mountain. After 2 weeks, Kolins came down voluntarily pleading “not guilty” in order to make a statement about the injustice of a legal system that is siding with powerful coal interests. She asks: “How is it that the coal industry kills innocent people and faces no legal repercussions?”

[fancy_link link=”http://rampscampaign.org/”]Visit RAMPS Campaign’s Website[/fancy_link] [fancy_link link=”http://rampscampaign.org/donate/”]Support RAMPS[/fancy_link]

[heading]REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE STRONG AND POWERFUL.
REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE. ACT NOW.[/heading]

Join our action list here for updates on further opportunities to take action.