Earth Day Live!
The coronavirus has laid bare the brutality and injustice of our current economic system. Millions of people have lost their jobs, are no longer able to pay their rent, student loans, credit card bills, utilities, or healthcare costs. Now when we need it most, we find our social safety net in tatters, torn apart by corporations and right-wing politicians.
Normally, in response to a crisis we take to the streets — marching, holding rallies, planning actions, and so much more. We can’t do that now, but we can still organize to win.
This year, on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we’re taking action online at a scale the climate movement has never done before. Click here to RSVP for Earth Day Live and find out more.
On April 22-24, millions of people around the world are going online for a three-day mobilization to stop the climate emergency. Activists, performers, influencers, and thought leaders are coming together to host a 3-day digital event full of teach-ins, performances, and more.
Right now, fossil fuel companies are elbowing to be first in line for corporate handouts and tax breaks. Last night, the EPA dropped all its environmental and safety requirements with no restrictions around duration. Now, the coal industry is arguing it should no longer have to pay into a Black Lung fund that provides healthcare for 25,000 sick miners.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The coronavirus has turned off the global economy. Now is our chance to change the system before we turn it back on. We know that even before the coronavirus crisis, financial institutions were driving us straight off a cliff. Instead of just giving them back the keys we need to take control of the economy and steer it in a new direction.
Click here to RSVP for Earth Day Live and stay up to date with the latest announcements — including the schedule of speakers, performances, and more.
The global crisis we face right now is terrifying, but our best hope in moments like these is to work together. Let’s reimagine what a social movement can look like in the digital age.
P.S. Earth Day Live has already gotten traction in the press, with articles in the Washington Post, New York Times, and more. Check it out!
I wanted to uplift the amazing work that the Stop the Money Pipeline PDX coalition has been doing ahead of Earth Day.
Stop the Money Pipeline 350PDX coalition is organizing a Digital Chase Bank Takeover -- and would like your help!
Here's the plan: Over the next week, we will leave thousands of comments on multiple review websites emphasizing Chase's dominant role in funding the fossil fuel industry -- and destroying our communities and the climate.
Can you help? Here's all the tools you need:
Chase Digital Takeover Toolkit. In this toolkit is everything you and your organizations supporters need (links, sample reviews, ideas for art, etc.) to write powerful reviews and make your voices heard.
Chase DigitalTakeover video (90 seconds) will be part of the STMP Livestream on April 23rd. Please share it on your social media and with your lists
Example of local sign-up page is here: Portland Sign-up at URL: bit.ly/ChaseTakeover
Social media messaging kit will help you amplify this action! Please also follow 350PDX and re-tweet, facebook, or insta! Here are some examples: Twitter posts - Instagram posts - Facebook posts. Please invite your folks to join us! Let's takeover Chase together!
Documentaries
The Condor and the Eagle
Wed. April 22 at 6-8 pm PT / 7-9 MT / 8-10 CT / 9-11 ET
Discussion with the filmmakers follows the screening. RSVP here!
Free, with $10-50 donation requested to support the independent filmmakers.
About the film: The film follows four Indigenous leaders as they embark on an extraordinary trans-continental adventure from the Canadian plains to deep into the heart of the Amazonian jungle to unite the peoples of North and South America and deepen the meaning of “Climate Justice”. The main two characters live in the 2 energy capitals of North America: the tar sands in Canada and Houston in the USA – the 2 other protagonists live in the US: Houston and Oklahoma. Their path through the jungle takes them on an unexpectedly challenging and liberating journey, which will forever change their attachment to the Earth and one another.
Watch the trailer here.
The 2019 elections across the board will be crucial to advancing action on the climate and environment. Meaningful Movies on the Eastside will be hosting a discussion of this 37-minute film and how insights from it apply to the upcoming election season:
Suppressed: The Fight to Vote
Watch the 37 min film at your convenience in advance of the April 28th discussion at Brave New Films at: https://www.bravenewfilms.org/suppressed
Then join us on line Tuesday, April 28th at 7:00 PM for a discussion of "Suppressed".
Zoom Link https://zoom.us/j/988602590 Meeting ID 988 602 590
Eastside for All
Events - Learning Together, Staying Engaged
Eastside For All partners with BizDiversity, local nonprofits, and economic development leaders as part of our Inclusive Economy initiative. Please help spread the word about BizDiversity's upcoming event. Glocal 2020: An Entrepreneurial Diversity and Inclusion Outreach Workshop takes place April 23, 5-7pm.
We have a Facebook page now. Please like it and share our posts. Each time you share something, you're helping us reach people that wouldn't otherwise know about us. It may seem small, but it matters. Thank you!
Equity-Centered COVID Information and Resources
One of our first actions in our COVID response was to create a resource directory specifically geared toward the needs of communities who have been historically marginalized and who continue to experience the biggest barriers when it comes to accessing information, resources, and public assistance. We had no idea when we built the online Welcoming Institute that the design would allow us to easily set up a robust and well-formatted COVID directory. Thank you to all our Seed Campaign donors! Your contributions made our website possible, serving a need we couldn't have imagined just a few months ago.
Debbie Lacy (she/her/hers)
Founder/CEO, Eastside For All
Transforming East King County into a place where racial, economic, and social justice is made possible for communities of color.
Climate Assembly announcement ~ Michael Foster
This month in the UK and France, People's Climate Assemblies wrap up with recommendations for new climate plans. The French Assembly issued a letter stating that the economy must show regard for climate and reducing pollution before it opens again. Our dream is to hold Assemblies in a dozen states this summer online, to influence both parties going into November elections.
As of today, 3 Washington House Committee Chairs have already signed on to invite residents into the first Climate Assembly in the USA here. We need 3 more signers and we're going to push for other states and a national assembly. "How do we the people choose to tackle climate change to protect our state?"
How else do we pass the hundreds of new laws needed without a clear mandate from the people on the specific policies?
Independently-run Assemblies match our demographics, including youth, and collaborate over several weekends (ONLINE during quarantine) to make recommendations to the legislature. Randomly-invited residents first get sorted to mirror the state as a group, and all get paid time and expenses for their service.
Learn more about how an Assembly works here: www.ClimateAssembly.us
This gets real this week, Earth Day. We can't rewrite the 2020 elections for climate without you. "We" are a tiny group of students and a couple of boomers. To launch nationally by May 1, we need volunteers:
· social media
· press
· website
· organization-partner outreach
· develop toolkit for activists nationwide
· approach potential funders
Help us resuscitate climate and democracy this month. Call/text anytime,
Michael Foster
(206) 999-3477
[email protected]
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade one never expects to sit. --Nelson Henderson
Opportunities to support your neighbors near and far
Millions of people have lost their jobs in recent weeks, and many are forced to work at great personal risk without appropriate protections, compensation, or healthcare. Stimulus checks will not be enough to sustain many who will be receiving them. Additionally, millions of people won't get checks at all, including those who are undocumented, incarcerated, or who do not have social security numbers, bank accounts, or home addresses.
Do you have your basic needs met? Can you join us in supporting those who don't?
Redistributing these checks does two things:
1. Moves the money into the hands of the people and organizations that need resources the most right now
2. Moves money into the economy rather than people’s savings, helping prevent even further economic harm
For those of us who are lucky enough to be financially stable and securely housed, this is a step towards ensuring that we all have enough to make it through this collective crisis. If you can, please sign the pledge to #sharemycheck. Wondering where to donate? Here are a few recommendations:
· The Washington Food Fund - raising money to provide food and supplies for those in need during the COVID-19 crisis, including the elderly, people who struggle with health issues or have lost their jobs, and children who normally rely on school for meals. As you may know, WA food banks are running out of food.
· Front & Centered's COVID-19 Frontline Response Fund - a coalition of over 75+ grassroots organizations based in and led by communities of color, F&C has created a Frontline Response Fund which will support their member groups as they continue to serve at the frontlines, in their communities, and work to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
· COVID-19 Relief Fund for WA Undocumented Folks - a coalition of the Washington Dream Coalition, Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, Entre Hermanos, Somos Seattle, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and Scholarship Junkies to provide emergency and preventative financial relief to undocumented individuals that are at financial risk.
· COVID-19 Survival Fund for the People - Coronavirus Mutual Aid Solidarity Network - a collective of volunteers, not a non-profit. That means no overhead, every dollar is going towards groceries, supplies, and direct support.
· La Resistencia - a local grassroots organization working to end the detention of immigrants and stop deportations. This is always urgent but is particularly urgent now; ICE is causing preventable deaths by not releasing people from detention.
Mutual Aid Solidarity Network:
To donate, see the GoFundMe Puget Sound COVID-19 Survival Fund for the People page.
For volunteer opportunities, additional resources, and a list of petitions and actions to sign onto, please see the #COVID19MutualAidLinks google doc.
For Mutual Aid networks throughout the state of WA, check out It's Going Down.
Scholarship Junkies coalition: https://www.scholarshipjunkies.org/relief?fbclid=IwAR09jI378qGNfImeGOcV_B-MahDgjrDX6fnuds5mkZHvaUE5u_KXuFQEf2o
Climate Alliance - Here are ways you can support their calls for emergency justice!
· Got Green: Sign the Emergency Justice Petition
· Community to Community & Familias Unidas Por La Justicia: Call your electeds and ask for Farmworker protections!
· Give to Front & Centered’s Frontline Response Fund
· Give to the Washington State Labor Council’s Foundation for Working Families
· United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21:
o Sign the petition: Gig companies must provide essential protections for essential workers
o Sign the petition: Support our nurses and healthcare workers
o Sign the petition: The federal government must release supplies from the National Strategic Stockpile of protective equipment immediately
o Sign the petition: Grocery Store and Pharmacy workers need childcare support.
o Sign the petition: COVID-19 relief for Macy’s workers!
o Donate unused personal protective gear for healthcare workers.
o Sign the petition: Demand Action and protections for grocery store workers
We developed a COVID–19 Solidarity Resource Toolkit and a Collection of Solidarity Actions and Policy Demands with the goal of gathering all COVID–19 resources and policy demands into one place. You can also find the most up-to-date calls to action on our Climate Alliance website.
Stay safe, healthy and connected,
Phil, Lynn, Marilyn, Sara, Emily, Bonnie, and Lin
