Power To The People- Day 2

Washington, DC - Nov. 6, 2011 - Tar Sands XL Pipeline Protest
(I have been working the last 4 days, going through the hundreds of photos and movies I took at the protest. As I was working on the blog last night (Thursday, Nov. 10) I heard on NPR that Obama has delayed the pipeline decision until at least 2013 due to huge protesting around the country. Proof our efforts are working!!! :o) Here is my report:

Today was the day, over 12,000 people from all over the USA made a successful attempt to completely surround the White House with a human chain. We did this to send a strong message to President Obama that we oppose the planned Keystone Tar Sands XL Pipeline slated to start crossing the Canadian border on its way to Texas next year. Go here for for the full report:
http://campusprogress.org/articles/thousands_surround_the_white_house_to_protest_tar_sands_pipeline/
We will hold Obama accountable for the destruction of our air, water and earth if he grants TransCanada the permit to cross our border to start laying pipe. We are letting him know he will not have our support in the next election if he says yes to this. This is the largest environmental protest I have ever attended. It was so well organized not one person was arrested. I have many, many photo's and movies and links to share with you so I will get right to it (see my previous post for more background on the movement).

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to pay a visit to our president.

 

The protest started in Lafayette Square Park, directly across the street from the White House, which I now call the Black House, as it should be :o)  I arrived at the park a couple of hours early so I could watch the people gather.

 

I was lucky to catch our local Indiana group on video as they arrived to the square. They had come overnight by bus and were very ready for a protest.

 

I caught up with the group as they were going over their plans for their part in the protest.

 

As more and more people arrived at the park, the organizers began handing out participant vests and signs to the crowd.

 So many of the protest signs had actual quotes from Obama about his positions on the environment. We aren't about to let him forget about the things he said in order for us to help him get elected.

 Lucille is one of our local B-town environmental activists. She can bend some serious ear about her take on the current environmental and political crisis in this country. She certainly did not just fall off of the turnip wagon. Very inspirational.

Proof I was actually there :o)

There was a huge stage and sound system set up in the park for the protest. They began playing all sorts of civil rights and protest songs and speeches. It was really moving.

 

Some of our comrades from the very large group that came from Vermont.

 Quinten is one of our group from Btown. I just loved his sign. He was interviewed by the Washington Post and I found his name and quotes in the paper on Monday. Go here to read the article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/oil-pipeline-protesters-encircle-white-house/2011/11/06/gIQAmjnRtM_story.html

Some of our student group were so excited to meet Bill McKibben, the wonderful man who started the No Tar Sands XL Pipeline movement. This photo op for some of our young people was fun to watch. A very impressive man indeed.

I came across this group of 6th and 7th graders from Cleveland, Ohio. Some of their teachers had brought them to the protest. It is about their future on this planet, so it was great to see them there and they were all very excited to be a pert of something this big. I had a great chat with them.

As in any protest, there were many, many signs bringing all sorts of opinions to the conversation. Here are some of my favorite from the protest.

"We risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe"

Keystone XL: Game over for my Arctic home (Center for Biological Diversity)

'First time voter. Want Me? (No Oil)'

This young man represents my nephews.

Georgia Climate Change Coalition. The man on the right with the fishing pole has a sign that says "Fly Fisher: No Keystone Pipeline". As I was taking his photo he said he wished the sign he was holding was a fish. Hilarious!

Cornfinger.com are our friends from Nebraska.

The young people attending the protest were inspirational. This really is a huge issue for them since what we do now will affect what will be left to them and their children.

This is what Obama said when he was running for president. We will hold him to it!

 'The atmosphere is our public trust'. The Franciscan priest (below) in the black robe gave a great speech to the crowd before we went off to encircle the White House. He said something very profound: "As a religious person it is my duty to be a good steward of the earth, to take care of the environment and to live a sustainable life. This is a religious principal known by all religions of the earth".

'You made a promise to her'.

People just kept coming. As the crowd grew, I noticed a really large group from Vermont who were very vocal. They began doing a chant: "There is power in our voices, there is power in our hands, we say YES to the earth and say NO to Tar Sands"

One of the biggest misconceptions of the recent protest movements around the country, like Occupy, is that these are a bunch of radical, unemployed, homeless, losers who are UN-American and out to ruin our society. Well, have a look at this video. These are normal American folks who have jobs, families, 401k's, own property, pay their taxes, and yes, some of them are Occupiers and just fed up with the inequity and corporate ownership of everything (including our politicians) in our society. Here we all stand together singing our national anthem.

As the rally came to an end, everyone was REALLY anxious to get to our task of surrounding the Black House. Here is a video as our group (the brown group) took off to line the back side of The Peoples House. 

This is what democracy looks like!

As we turned the corner to go along the back side of the Black House it all started to get very exciting.

A video of the moment the two sides of the line met in the back of the White House. A very moving moment. The last time this was attempted was in the 1960's during the Vietnam War. We are the first to really do it! :o)

What a BEAUTIFUL day for a protest!

So, I decided to start walking around the whole White House to get film of the line of people. As I walked I ran into this wonderful guy named Ben Evans. I found out he is a documentary film maker. I followed him through the crowd for quite some time as we both filmed the goings on.

Go to Ben's website to check out his WONDERFUL award winning film. It features the really cool innovative people from every state that are trying to solve the worlds environmental crisis. Watch the trailer and then just let the small video clips continue to play. You will be AMAZED at the innovation going on in this country. This is where the jobs need to be created!

Go here:  http://www.yert.com/film.php

.........more video from the human chain. Notice how diverse the crowd is. It really represents how this is an issue for all human kind.

The Lakota Indians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakota_people) from North Dakota will lose some of their land if the pipeline is approved. Hasn't the US taken enough from them already?!!!!!

Most everyone is already aware of the dangers the polar bear population is currently facing. Do we want to be the generation responsible for their demise?

I ran into this farmer from Kansas, my mom's home state. He just happens to be from Atchison, my mom's home town. If approved, the pipeline will run right through the middle of Kansas, taking acres of farmland and disrupting the local ecosystem. I talked to him for quite some time and he told me the farming community in Kansas is ready for a long fight on this issue.

I hope this blog post has motivated those reading it to get involved in the environmental movement in the USA or wherever you are in the world. The Tar Sands Pipeline is just one of many issues that need our attention. We cannot continue to let HUGE corporations have the say on how we live our lives. We have the right to breathe clean air and drink clean water, eat uncontaminated food (Wow! and wouldn't that help the health care crisis too?). And what about saving endangered species - the most important of which IS US! I could go on and on and on and on..........

Let's start by creating clean energy jobs! PEACE!

Back to some home cookin' in my next post. :o)