350PDX Weekly Update – Black Lives Matter – June 2 2020

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Hi everyone,

Fighting for racial justice is fighting for climate justice. You can’t have one without the other. There is no way to tackle the climate crisis fairly without addressing the systemic racism that fuels it. This is key to our mission and values at 350PDX. If you need a reminder of why that is, you can read this.

So in this time when we’ve been brutally reminded of the ongoing crisis of racial injustice, it’s time for all of us, especially the white folks in our movement, to step up and take action – by learning, listening, donating, talking to our problematic relatives and friends, and being an active part of this fight for justice.

To know where to start see the Movement for Black Lives Week of Action here, read the statement that 350PDX staff and board put together here, and explore our webpage of Environmental Justice & White Supremacy resources. 


Yesterday’s 9-minute “die-in” on the Burnside Bridge

Here’s your 350PDX weekly update.

Actions

  • Movement for Black Lives – Week of Action

    Every day this week there a different actions you can take from the Movement for Black Lives, from policy demands to community solidarity. Find all the actions on the website, and also cautionary info and advice about protesting during a pandemic.

  • Call and email Mayor Wheeler – Defund the PPB

    Demand that the City demilitarize and defund the Portland Police Bureau, and to keep the National Guard out of our community.
    For inspiration read this letter we sent to Portland City Council on May 19, a week before George Floyd’s death, advocating to defund the police in some specific ways.

    503-823-4127, mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov

    The Portland Police Bureau contract is expiring in the next year. We must keep pushing Mayor Wheeler and the City for demilitarization of the PPB, civilian oversight with actual ability to impact the PPB, and defunding their overall budget. For more information and talking points, please refer to this Police Reform Network letter from Unite Oregon, signed by 350PDX as members of the Portland Metro People’s Coalition at the end of last year.

  • Call Governor Brown

    To demand she convene a special short legislative session right now to tackle both the COVID-19 crisis, as well as police accountability, reforms, and directly supporting Oregon’s communities of color.

    503-378-4582

    For example, in the words of Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, “The Officer’s Bill of Rights is the state law that protects police officers engaged in misconduct. If you’re wondering how to impact a system where police officers avoid reprimand, we must demand our State Legislators and Governor change this on the state level. In addition to responding to the COVID-19 crisis, the Governor should make police accountability and support for Oregon’s communities of color a priority that the state must act on now.”

  • Tell DEQ: No more oil trains on the Columbia River

    The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently accepting comments on the draft air pollution permit for Global Partners’ Port Westward facility, also known as the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery. Located in the Columbia River estuary, Global Partners’ crude oil transloading facility threatens public safety, salmon, and clean water. Learn more about how oil trains endanger Columbia River communities, then tell DEQ to keep oil trains off the Columbia. Deadline Friday June 5!

COVID-19 Resources

And finally, a bit of good news this week.

  • National groups across the left come together for a united climate platform

    In Washington DC, and across the country, major groups and players are beginning to unite around a bold climate platform, for the first time in memory. The notion of weakening climate bill proposals in order to compromise with Republicans and get bipartisan support is being rejected, after being shown to be a losing strategy for the last decade. And so a broad coalition has formed of establishment Democrats, the progressive wing of the party, frontline community groups, and groups like the Sunrise Movement and labor unions. There will still be a fight to make it more ambitious, and to make it win, but this is a really heartening step forward. Read the Vox article here.

Opportunities​​​​

  • What We Must Do to Dismantle White Supremacy
    Thurs June 4, 5:00PM – 6:00PM @ Online – RSVP hereWe are in a moment where people are rising up and taking to the streets to demand justice for Black lives. What has transpired over the past weeks is weighing heavily on us. The state sanctioned violence against Black bodies against the landscape of the current pandemic has reached a fever pitch.

    Join 350.org’s webinar to hear from our organizing department, partners and frontline organizers about ways you can show up in this moment. We will be getting politically aligned around what it means to steep our work in racial justice and equity, ways to work towards dismantling white supremacy and actions you can take to support Black lives. We must defend Black lives and take collective action!

  • The Long and Twisted Tale of Jordan Cove LNG – Zoom Documentary Slideshow Premiere
    Fri June 5, 6:30PM – 8:00PM @ Online – RSVP hereBarbara Bernstein & Damon Motz-Storey host with Rogue Climate, No LNG Exports, Power Past Fracked Gas, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility are excited to invite you to a Zoom premiere on Friday, June 5th from 6:30-8:00 pm presenting “The Long and Twisted Tale of Jordan Cove LNG,” a slideshow that accompanies Part Two of Barbara Bernstein’s “Holding the Thin Green Line” radio documentary series. Please join us for a viewing of the slideshow (57 minutes) plus a Q&A session immediately afterwards with impacted landowners, community organizers and land and water protectors who are featured in the documentary.

    Panel Speakers: Taylor Tupper (life-long Klamath County resident and individual tribal member), Stacey McLaughlin (impacted landowner), Larry Mangan (impacted landowner), and Allie Rosenbluth (Rogue Climate).

    This slideshow was conceived originally to show at community gatherings to educate the wider public about what’s at stake for the people of Southern Oregon – as well as our entire region – and the planet – if the Jordan Cove LNG Export Terminal and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline get built. This slideshow puts faces to the people whose stories are told in the radio documentary and shows the landscapes that would be destroyed by this fracked gas pipeline and export terminal. But until the COVID-19 pandemic is over we are resorting to Zoom to create these community gatherings. Facebook event here.

  • A Letter Writing Session for Philippine Seafarers
    Sat June 6, 3:00PM – 4:30PM @ Online – RSVP hereThe Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world, and environmental justice activists face severe and sometimes fatal repression. As such we stand in solidarity with PCHRP (the Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines), who are hosting this online session. “Come learn about the conditions of Philippine seafarers, many of whom are stuck at port including in Portland and Vancouver during the COVID-19 crisis. Then, stick around to write your own letter to the seafarers showing your support! Donate to the fundraiser that is raising money to purchase SIM cards so they can talk to their families back home.”

Thank you all for the work that you do, stay safe, and we’re all in this together,
Ashley, Chris, Chuck, Dineen, Lucy – the 350PDX staff

350PDX Weekly Update – Zenith Blinks – May 27 2020 Take action now to support Black lives