JUNE AGAINST DOOM: COMMUNITY PICKETS AGAINST SHELL

The continued attempts at exploration for oil by sHell in the fragile, pristine ecosystems in the Arctic around Alaska, which are home to tens of thousands of indigenous peoples, hundreds of animal species and a brutal, unforgiving sea is a blatant continuation of colonization, putting profits above life and the land.

WE INTEND TO STOP THEM!

We know that Indigenous People, People in the Global South, Migrants and Communities of Color are the first and most impacted by the effects of Climate Change and contamination of our habitats.

We know that Environmental Racism is one of many ways violence is perpetuated against our communities; that this fight is a fight to respect life and it intersects with all other fights to protect our and all species’ right to life.

Some globally intersecting movements are:

Idle No More
Black Lives Matter
Migrant Movements
Anti-prison and deportation
Decolonization
Queer
Disability Justice
Women’s Rights
Anti-rape
Anti-imperial
Anti-capitalist struggles

With this in mind we are putting out a call for support and unified resistance from all land defenders, decolonial warriors, disabled people, migrants, pigmented people, poor folks, prisoners, workers, queers, parents, children, animal lovers, hikers, environmentalists, teachers, students, activists, revolutionaries and anyone who resides on planet Earth. Your help is needed in Seattle, occupied Duwamish and Suquamish Territory, to join the ongoing fight to defend the land and life from sHell‘s poisonous plan to destroy the Earth.

Climate Change is an issue that often, and for many, feels too big to tackle, too unwieldy to really be able to impact on an individual level. Nonetheless, it’s ushering us and our ability to live healthy and fulfilling lives towards oblivion.

We must seize this opportunity and act now. We need to show sHell, our politicians and the public that these destructive death machines (the Polar (aka Profit) Pioneer, the Noble Discoverer, and others) are not welcome here in Seattle, and most certainly not welcome in the Arctic. We need to show them that they need to leave the oil in the Arctic (and everywhere really) in the ground.

This is a cross-sectional issue that affects every single one of us, and we must act while we have the ability to impact the course of the whole world and all of its inhabitants in a positive way.

What are the stories you want to be able to tell your grandchildren about the way you stood up for them? Or didn’t?

We are only temporary inhabitants of this planet, but the practices we condone by not opposing them leaves a harm that is not temporary. As such, we have a responsibility to act, especially from our relative, temporary safety within the United States, when compared to the Global South which is disproportionately impacted by our behavior, to ensure that we are not leaving the planet worse off for those who will occupy it after we leave. To make this point clearer, imagine with me for instance, that before you left for work in the morning you washed the dishes and left the kitchen spotless. However, when you return home expecting to be greeted by a kitchen ready to make dinner in to find that it is in worse condition than you found it in the morning. You feel disrespected. You feel that it is wrong. You feel as though harm has been done to you. You feel these things because you do not believe you deserved to have to clean up someone else’s mess. The world we share is no different than the kitchens we share, and when we leave a mess for others that is wrong, particularly when it’s one that will not have a remedy.

A common reason for our lack of action regarding the planet is because we are so overwhelmed by the immensity of the problem that we don’t know how to what to do or even if our actions will have any impact. But, picking up a dish does have an impact and if everyone who shares the kitchen picks up our dishes, then all of a sudden there is no more mess. You may say that some may not do their fair share and this is quite true, but after all those who do comply do their part, then what remains will not be nearly as daunting a task to manage.

You WILL Have An Impact on Mitigating the Damage to the Planet!

June Against Doom is a concerted effort and regardless of whether you are an environmentalist or a concerned human being, this proposed Arctic drilling both impacts you and there is something that you can do about it, especially right now! There is space for all of us and there is something that every single one of us can do. No matter how big or small you think your part is, you are very important.

For more information specifically on data and statistics about what is Happening and Why it is Important to both me and you, Visit: shell.noblogs.org

The Facts on the Ground:
The Profit Pioneer and its support vehicles have an extremely short time-frame to get up to Alaska and take advantage of the thawed ice to attempt their drilling. As such, the goal of the entire month of June Against Doom is to create slow-downs, delays, lost work hours and general disruptions to stop sHell from getting their death machine up to the Arctic to fulfill its genocidal mission. Profit Pioneer is scheduled to depart on June 10th. So, we have very limited time to activate and the circumstances require a sustained community-wide effort.

To succeed we only need to delay the Profit Pioneer until roughly June 29th ! That is why this whole month is going to be JUNE AGAINST DOOM. This is just the beginning!

According to the federal government, not that we trust, what they say, (Obama and Congress were just sourced as condoning slavery with the Trans-Pacific Partnership TPP), there is a 75% chance of major spill, which would immediately affect the Pacific Northwest and West Coast in general—fishing communities, fishing industries, fish, whales, birds, humans, and aesthetics.

The Plan for the Weekend

Morning:
We will come together as people who care about passing on a planet to future generations at a, soon to be disclosed, location near Terminal 5 on the mornings of Friday June 5th, Saturday June 6th, and Monday June 8th at 5:30 am in order to be down to the terminal gate by 6:30 am to form a Community Picket line (which the ILWU port workers are contractually obligated to honor) to stop the workers who are performing maintenance and loading the ships from being able to perform their scheduled work for these days. Though the workers technically begin work at 8:00 am, they are dispatched from the union hall as early as 6:30 am and we need to make sure that we are in place in time to actually disrupt business as usual. Dedicated to not allowing any work to be completed for the day we will maintain our presence for the entirety of their 9 hour shift, which ends at 6:00 pm. That means that while we need a large mass of people specifically for that morning convergence to set the lines, there is also plenty of time during the day for other people to join us as they are able to.

The Afternoon:
Recognizing the severity of the situation, we will also be blocking as much of the 2nd afternoon shift as we can, on each of the outlined days. Though the shift begins at 6:00 pm, similar to the morning shift, there is potential that workers could start arriving at Terminal 5 for work as early as 4:30 pm after they are dispatched. As such we will need additional people to arrive later in the day to participate in a 2nd shift of resistance, particularly around this time-frame. Since the picket lines will already be established we will be communicating with folks via Facebook, texts, tweets and updates to the shell.noblogs.org to the exact locations of where people need to be. Recognizing that it is unsustainable to ask people to stay out there for the entire day, we will need a second large group of people to arrive to relieve the morning people as they are able to in the afternoon/evening, as well as people just generally joining whenever they are able to, for as long as they are able to.

Goals:
These are intended to be non-violent direct actions which will stop commerce with the mere presence of our bodies to deter the workers, who have been instructed not to engage with any sort of disturbances at the gate, and to return to the union hall. The workers are supposed to allow the police to “address” any issues. However, we also recognize that the police are a racist institution, founded on acting as slave catchers, who are designed to be the means by which the inequalities of an unjust social system are maintained, and they will most definitely be present to fulfill their roles as protectors of capital and profit, not people. The single most important thing that will keep all of us the most safe, is other people, and lots of them. Tell your friends, your coworkers, your families, your mail carriers. Tell anyone who has a vested interest on maintaining life on this planet and that this is an issue they cannot turn away from. Share some statistics about the severity of this situation with them, and then bring them at some point this weekend. While it is true that this will be a long weekend, it also means that there will be numerous opportunities to come engage in this righteous battle, whenever your schedule will allow. Figure out when makes the most sense for you, and then come!

Bring your anti-sHell, pro-land signs, banners and art work! We encourage people to bring snacks and water with them to the actions, though there will be some food and drinks available there for free as well. Also, recognizing that this weekend is long and people are bound to need to take time to rest, there will be nearby areas where people can take breaks and relax and share stories with each other.

SEE YOU THERE!