350PDX Weekly Update – It’s still about Black lives – August 5 2020

Over the past few months, 350PDX leadership has been engaging in hard, and deeply personal anti-racism work. Our Board Chair and former Co-Interim Executive Director, Anaïs Tuepker, shared these words about the journey she’s been on so far:

“For me personally, this has been some of the hardest and most rewarding work I have ever undertaken. I have had to open myself up to acknowledging the many ways in which my actions – or, often, my lack of actions – have perpetuated injustice. I have had to become more skilled in understanding and working with the reality that my skin color and class background insulate me from the worst impacts of climate disruption and environmental injustices, and that, for that reason, they get in the way of me being able to generate the best solutions for communities that are demanding change. I have been learning how to listen with radical openness and support for those whose lives are harmed by the same structures that support me, and how to move beyond guilt and into effective action to build more equitable organizations and systems that can include and nourish all of us. I have, in short, been unlearning the norms of the white dominant status quo and extractive culture, and I wake up truly grateful each day to be alive and growing in this time of societal change.”

We hope to continue doing this work internally and provide space for any volunteers, organizations, and supporters to join us! But we need your help.

Can you donate today to help us achieve our vision of being a truly anti-racist climate justice organization?

Support Our Summer Appeal

Hi everyone,

Outside of the protests downtown another revolution is happening within communities, organizations and businesses across the city. Finally many people are taking anti-racism seriously, and long overdue at 350PDX we’re doing the same.

That means revisiting our organizational values to understand what it would mean to be a truly anti-racist climate justice organization; implementing our JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) plan as a top priority; putting staff time and resources until building relationships based on solidarity with groups and organizers on the frontlines of racial injustice; and fighting for campaigns that tackle oppression just as much as they reduce carbon emissions, like the upcoming Oregon Green New Deal.

Chip in today to help us further unite the movements for racial justice and climate justice!

Here’s your 350PDX weekly update.

Not the time to slow down

While federal agents are beginning to leave Portland, this movement is far from over. People are still showing up night after night at locations across the city., while the feds leaving Portland is a victory against Trump, it doesn’t mean that the Portland Police Bureau will be any less brutal to protesters or the Black community, it doesn’t mean that our tax dollars will be diverted from the police and to Black communities, and it doesn’t mean that we’ve wiped out racial injustice. Let’s keep up the momentum and change America for good.

It’s still about Black lives

With Portland being on the frontpage of national newspapers the focus has shifted recently towards Trump’s growing authoritarianism, but it’s important to remember what these protests are about: following Black leadership to protest racial injustice.

What you can do

1. Show up

There are events all day every day, in a whole range of different neighborhoods and at a whole range of different levels of risks – from standing on street corners waving signs in the middle of the day, to COVID-safe car caravans slowly parading around the city, to facing off with federal troops at midnight outside the (in)justice center downtown. Here are a few picks in the coming days:

Nightly Protest at the (In)Justice Center
Every night, 7:30PM – Late
Police have consistently been violent at these events, so personal protective equipment is recommended, and pets should stay at home.

Oregon DA for the People: Letter Writing Night
Thurs Aug 6, 7:00PM – 8:30PM
Help Critical Resistance PDX work toward writing every person locked up in Oregon: all 14,000+ prisoners

Justice for Patrick Kimmons
Thurs Aug 6, 10:00AM – 12:00PM
Portland City Hall. Please wear black

Downtown Community Cleanup
Sat Aug 8 + every Saturday at 10:30AM – 12:30PM
Cleanup of Lownsdale Square & Chapman Square
This is also an opportunity for folks to participate in a study of the chemical weapons being used on protestors if you exchange your filters there.

St. Johns Black Lives Matter Rally
Every Saturday and Sunday at 5:30PM – 7:30PM
N Lombard Ave & N Philadelphia Ave

Come Thru: Black & Indigenous Market
Mon Aug 10 11:00AM – 3:00PM (and every other Monday)
Come Thru Market, 831 SE Salmon St, Portland

See all in-person and virtual BLM events here

Fill in our BLM Volunteer Form

Nervous to attend an event on your own? Fill in our volunteer form and join our Signal text group to find a buddy to go with!

Advice for showing up to protest

• Mask up!
• Wear a helmet
• Bring lots of water
• Bring a buddy, if you can
• Memorize the two National Lawyers’ Guild hotlines, or write it on your body:
  — (971) 247-1072 if you’re *in* jail
  — (833) 680-1312 if you were released from jail, saw someone get arrested, a friend was arrested, experienced police brutality, or were directly contacted by law enforcement.
• Don’t film other people’s faces. The cops love to retaliate.

(Lilith Sinclair has a much more thorough protest preparation guide that we highly recommend.)

See a few more resources about what to wear, what apps to use, etc. at this link here.

2. Give supplies / money

– Rosehip Medic Collective looking for a whole range of useful supplies you might have – see the list and how to donate here

– Riot Ribs is dissolving their organized efforts on the ground. See their press release here for more info. They’re encouraging folks to give to Revolution Ribs (Riots Ribs but on the road, bringing mutual aid food distribution to other cities protesting across the country).

– Portland Action Medics is still doing an ‘old gear drive’ – donate helmets, new or gently used knee and elbow pads, wrist guards, shatter-resistant eye protection and goggles. Donate and more info here

– The Witches are downtown providing supplies, medics, food, drinks, water and candy. Find what they need and how to donate on their twitter.

Actions

• City Tree Code – Action Needed: City Proposal Exempts Industrial Landowners from Tree Protection Regulations

  The City of Portland is in the process of reviewing its tree code which puts in place important protections for trees in our city. It looks like there are some proposed improvements, but also a proposal to continue an exemption for Heavy Industrial landowners when it comes to protecting trees. Heavy Industrial lands are often in some of our most environmentally sensitive areas, for example along the Willamette and Columbia Rivers and Columbia Slough. They also are often adjacent to some of our most vulnerable neighborhoods, often with lower than average income and higher than average racial diversity.

  You can take action by emailing emily.sandy@portlandoregon.gov by midnight tonight (Wednesday Aug 5). Portland Audubon has some great talking points and tips on its page here.

• Survey: Community Impact of Tear Gas Exposure In Portland, Oregon

  Kaiser Permanente is running a study on the health effects of tear gas. It’s anonymous, so if you’ve been exposed since these protests have started on May 25 this year feel free to take part in this survey if you wish.

• Governor Brown: We Need a Mega-Dairy Moratorium Now!

  Out-of-state mega-dairies are moving into Oregon, putting our rural communities, health, small dairy farmers, and climate at risk. We need to take action to protect people and the environment from polluting mega-dairies.

  Sign the petition – We need a mega-dairy moratorium in Oregon! Read more about mega-dairies and their outsize impact on the climate here.

Updates

• 350.org Solidarity School

  The Solidarity School is a series of monthly mass calls designed for folks looking to grow and expand their skill set in this moment of uprising and climate justice organizing. Each month, guest speakers, 350.org staff and leaders from our broader network will strengthen our frameworks and share strategies, tactics, and actions for ongoing organizing. Register for the 4 sessions here.

  August 12th: Our Fight for a Just Recovery: Workers’ Rights, Racial Justice, COVID & Climate

  September 9th: Defund, Abolish & Divest: Climate, Racial & Economic Justice

  October 7th: Protecting Votes & Building Power: Climate Justice & the Election

  November 11th: From Recovery to Restoration: Holding Politicians Accountable & Organizing for a Just Transition

• Climate + COVID-19 – A Zine from 350Vermont

  Check out this great zine from 350Vermont, full of poems, art, articles, and ideas.

• How a public institute in Oregon became a de facto lobbying arm of the timber industry

  OPB just published this great article – “Internal emails show a tax-funded agency created to educate people about forestry has acted as a public-relations agency and lobbying arm for Oregon’s timber industry, in some cases skirting legal constraints that forbid it from doing so.”

  Want to help protect Oregon’s carbon-rich forests? Join our Forest Defense team! Email Leslie at leslie300@gmail.com and let her know you’re interested.

• Racism and Discrimination in the Oil and Gas Industry

  A good piece about racism in the industry, which also talks about how the fossil fuel industry funds the police across the country. “With the recent focus on systemic racism in America, the oil and gas industry is depicting itself as leading on the issue of diversity in the workforce. However, its public relations efforts and slick advertisements do not reflect the industry’s actual behavior.”

Opportunities​​​​

• Portland Black Lives Matter Protests
  Every day @ across the city – details here

  There are protests, vigils, and marches every day and every night, with the exact location and details sometimes only becoming available a few hours before. So please check the PDX BLM events webpage for the day’s events, and show up!

• City Club Forum: Telling the Story of the Portland Protests
  Thurs Aug 6, 12:00PM – 1:00PM – Online

  “How politicians & news media are influencing the narratives around Black Lives Matter. Depending who you ask — or what you read — Portland is either a city in the grip of anarchists and agitators or at the forefront of a fight to ensure Black lives matter. As the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd enter their third month in Portland, we’re seeing increased attention from national news outlets and heightened rhetoric from politicians. Amid a flurry of headlines about federal agents, moms, leaf blowers, and “Naked Athena,” it’s easy to lose track of the core tension at the heart of the protests. In a two-part program, we’re sitting down with activists and journalists who’ve deeply engaged for much of the last 60 days to ask: what is the reality on the ground, what messages are getting lost in the cacophony, and how do journalists, politicians, activists, and others influence Portlanders’ perception of the protests.”

• Vigil for Land Defenders in the Philippines
  Fri Aug 7, 8:00PM – 8:45PM – 2 SW Naito Pkwy, Portland (by Burnside Bridge)

  Join the PCHRP Environmental Justice Desk and Anakbayan Environmental Justice Desk for a vigil to honor land defenders in the Philippines.
  On August 6th, 2019, Brandon Lee, a San Francisco native who moved to the Philippines to work full-time as an environmental defender, was shot outside of his home, sustained life-threatening injuries and survived with permanent damage to his spine. This attack against Brandon came after years of harassment, surveillance, intimidation, and death threats by the Philippine military and police in an attempt to squash the movement of peasant farmers and indigenous peoples resisting environmental plunder and fighting for their rights to land and self-determination.

  As the Philippines was just named the most dangerous country for environmental defenders for the second year in a row and Duterte’s Anti-Terror Law has effectively legalized state terrorism, now more than ever we must honor Brandon’s work by seeking justice for all victims of Duterte’s fascist attacks against human rights and environmental defenders, condemning the Anti-Terror Law as Duterte’s continued push to enact nationwide de facto marital law, and demanding the US government pass the Philippine Human Rights Act and end to US support of the Duterte regime!

• Fossil Fuel Resistance Team Meeting
  Tues Aug 11, 5:30PM – 7:30PM, online, email dineen@350pdx.org to get details

  Our Fossil Fuel Resistance team fights to keep fossil fuels in the ground and is working on a bunch of campaigns right now, including resisting the Jordan Cove fracked gas export terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline in southern Oregon, Zenith Energy’s tar sands oil terminal expansion in NW Portland, the Kalama Methanol refinery just 35 miles north of Portland, and many more.

  This is a great meeting for new folks to jump into the work, so if this team interests you, give Dineen an email (dineen@350pdx.org) and let her know!

• 350.org Solidarity School: Our Fight for a Just Recovery: Workers’ Rights, Racial Justice, COVID & Climate
  Wed Aug 12, 5:00PM – 6:00PM, online – register here

  The Solidarity School is a series of monthly mass calls designed for folks looking to grow and expand their skill set in this moment of uprising and climate justice organizing. Each month, guest speakers, 350.org staff and leaders from our broader network will strengthen our frameworks and share strategies, tactics, and actions for ongoing organizing.

  The series will kick-off with a focus on Our Fight for a Just Recovery. We’ll provide foundational knowledge about what a “just recovery” means for 350.org and share our principles and values. We’ll hear how workers’ rights and the fight for racial justice intersect and how both connect with climate justice.

• SW PDX Black Lives Matter Vigil
  Every Weds, 4:30PM – 5:30PM, SW 35th and Multnomah Blvd

  Southwest PDX family-friendly sign waving in Solidarity with Black Lives, every Wed. 4:30-5:30, SW 35th and Multnomah Blvd. with masks and physical spacing, ongoing until further notice. Plenty of extra signs to borrow. Co-sponsored by 350PDX SW Team, SW Action Group for Social Justice (SWAG) and Stand on Every Corner.

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

P.S. If you found this email useful then please consider donating to our summer appeal. We’re pivoting hard and adapting daily to get behind this movement for transformational societal change, but with this economic crisis we need help from our community to be able to keep going and remain in this fight for the long haul. Thank you!