The following was written by a member of Deep Green Resistance Colorado.
I love this land. I love the plains and the hills and the forests and the mountains and the rivers, and everyone who calls those places home. I’ve lived here my entire life, and while I don’t know this land nearly as well as I should, it is my home. But this place is being killed, slowly destroyed, and I don’t want to see that.
Join Deep Green Resistance and Occupy Denver Environmental Defense on Thursday, June 14th for a screening and discussion of Frank Lopez’s groundbreaking film, END:CIV at the Gypsy Cafe (1279 Marion St) at 6:00pm. The film, which is based on Derrick Jensen’s two voume book Endgame, examines the destruction and violence that defines civilization, and poses serious questions about why, and how, we must resist.
END:CIV examines our culture’s addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations. END:CIV asks: “If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?”
The causes underlying the collapse of civilizations are usually traced to overuse of resources. As we write this, the world is reeling from economic chaos, peak oil, climate change, environmental degradation, and political turmoil. Every day, the headlines re-hash stories of scandal and betrayal of the public trust. We don’t have to make outraged demands for the end of the current global system — it seems to be coming apart already.
But acts of courage, compassion and altruism abound, even in the most damaged places. By documenting the resilience of the people hit hardest by war and repression, and the heroism of those coming forward to confront the crisis head-on, END:CIV illuminates a way out of this all-consuming madness and into a saner future.
For more information, contact deepgreenresistancecolorado@riseup.net, or call 720-425-4955.
Deep Green Resistance will be participating in, and working to raise awareness and support for, the 3rd Annual Unis’tot’en Action Camp in Unis’tot’en territory in the north of Unceded Occupied so-called British Columbia. We seek to stand in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en and other First Nations in their fight against the exploitation and degradation brought on by the tar sands, including the Enbridge Northern Gateway and other pipelines, fuel terminals, and refineries. Members of Deep Green Resistance will participate in the Action Camp, as well as organize a series of events to raise support and collect donations for the Unis’tot’en Action Camp and the struggle.
On Sunday, June 3rd, Deep Green Resistance Colorado and JenLo Therapy Farm will host a benefit and fundraiser for the 2012 March for Justice in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. On June 9th, the Oglala Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Reservation will march for justice against the genocide of opportunist alcohol dealers in the border town of White Clay, Nebraska. A caravan will be leaving from Boulder/Denver June 8th, and allies willing to act and march in solidarity are needed, as well as material support.
Because of its damaging cultural, social and health effects, alcohol is prohibited on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The town of White Clay, Nebraska sits just 200 feet from the southern border of the reservation, and less than two miles from the town of Pine Ridge, the largest on the reservation. While the population of White Clay is only 14, there are 4 liquor stores in the town which make millions of dollars each year selling alcohol as a border town, feeding off of the continued destruction of the Oglala Lakota people.
We will be showing the documentary “Battle for White Clay”, which presents the problem of White Clay and the history of resistance to the alcohol town. The event will collect donations and material support–in the form of funds, canned foods, blankets, and fans/air conditioners–for the action, which will be taken up by a caravan of supporters from Colorado to participate and support the March for Justice. There will be a lunch served at 12, and the film will be shown at 2. There will also be a short tour & introduction to JenLo Therapy Farm, and the Earth Guardians may be performing. A $10 donation is requested, but no one will be turned away. JenLo Therapy Farms is located at 5125 Ute Highway in Lyons.
Please contact deepgreenresistancecolorado@riseup.net, or call 303-823-6336 with questions. For more information about the 2012 March for Justice, go here, or read this recent article in the Denver Post.
On June 9th, the Oglala Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Reservation will march for justice against the genocide of opportunist alcohol dealers in the border town of White Clay, Nebraska. A caravan will be leaving from Boulder/Denver June 8th, and allies willing to act and march in solidarity are needed, as well as material support.
Because of its damaging cultural, social and health effects, alcohol is prohibited on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The town of White Clay, Nebraska sits just 200 feet from the southern border of the reservation, and less than two miles from the town of Pine Ridge, the largest on the reservation. While the population of White Clay is only 14, there are 4 liquor stores in the town which make millions of dollars each year selling alcohol as a border town.
The existence of White Clay, and the alcohol that is synonymous with its name, is responsible for violence, abuse and many deaths each year. These retailers routinely violate Nebraska liquor law by selling beer to minors and intoxicated persons, knowingly selling to bootleggers who resell the beer on the reservation, permitting on-premise consumption of beer in violation of restrictions placed on off-sale-only licenses, and exchanging beer for sexual favors .The vast majority of those who purchase beer in White Clay have in fact no legal place to consume it, since possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on the Pine Ridge Reservation remain illegal under tribal law. Many people have died in the streets due to exposure, as the state of Nebraska fails to uphold state law or to police White Clay. As long as the liquor stores in White Clay remain in business, the genocide of the Oglala Lakota people will continue.
On June 9th 1999 two Lakota men, Wally Black Elk and Ron Hard Heart, were brutally murdered in White Clay. It is in their memory that we will march for justice.
We will leave Colorado early on June 8th, and rendezvous with other allies at the Wounded Knee Museum in Pine Ridge at 3 pm, and will camp out that night. The next morning, we will gather at Billy Mills Hall in the town of Pine Ridge at 11:00 am and begin the march to White Clay at noon.
Those interested in joining the caravan to Pine Ridge should contact Deep Green Resistance Colorado (deepgreenresistancecolorado@riseup.net). We are seeking material support, in the form of food and donations for the caravan. Additionally, we will be collecting donated fans and air conditioners to bring to elders on Pine Ridge.
Join us in demanding justice and an end to liquor in White Clay!
Deep Green Resistance Colorado will be hosting a screening and discussion of the film Sweet Crude, which documents the grassroots community resistance to oil extraction in the Niger Delta on Tuesday, May 15th in the basement of the George Reynolds Library (3595 Table Mesa) at 6:00pm.
The Niger Delta is often considered the most polluted place on Earth. For half a century, oil extraction by transnational corporations has gone unregulated. Here, citizens of an oil-rich nation struggle to eat in a land that can no longer support them. The Delta’s water and soil have been fouled by the same oil production that accounts for more than 80 percent of the country’s revenue. Traditional fishing and farming livelihoods are all but gone. Potable drinking water is rare.. Families are broken up, as men die young or take off for the cities to find jobs.
Dear friends and supporters,
Occupy the Machine organizers have made a very difficult decision. We have decided to postpone our refinery blockade action until further notice. We did not make the decision lightly. We are extremely disappointed that we have to postpone this action, but very comfortable that we made the right choice. Of the many factors that contributed to this decision, there are two in particular that weighed heavily on our collective conscience.
Coronado was here; I found chain mail, finely worked deep in the gravel near Comanche Springs. The road here is part of a set of claw marks, made by huge, human-made lion machines. “Why,” I asked the VIA* representative whom I had driven up the foothill dirt two track, “have you bulldozed every tree, shrub and flower in this recipe of destruction? It’s visible from my home, 20 miles away.” The cigarette-lipped man replied reluctantly, “We are making clearways, preparation for the buildings we are going to begin in this area.”
In Honor of Struggles Against the Extraction Industry Everywhere,
In Memory of the Workers Whose Lives Were Taken By BP Two Years Ago,
Join Us In Saying:
“CLEAN AIR AND WATER FOR ALL”
“TAKE BACK EARTH DAY!”
LET’S SHUT DOWN THE TAR SANDS AND BLOCKADE AN OIL REFINERY!
What: A festival of resistance and alternatives to the fossil fuel economy, in the shadow of the Houston Valero refinery, culminating in a refinery blockade.
When: April 19th – 24th
Where: Hartmann Park, Manchester Neighborhood, Houston, TX
Why: The Alberta Tar Sands project is uprooting and poisoning Indigenous people in Canada while destroying the ancient boreal forests that are their home. The huge amount of carbon released will seriously worsen global climate change. The Keystone XL Pipeline will take oil from one of the most ecologically devastating projects on the face of the planet to Houston.
In Houston it will be refined by Valero and other companies. These refineries are surrounded by working-class neighborhoods throughout the Gulf, bringing cancer-causing toxins directly into their backyards. The majority of the Tar Sands oil processed in these refineries will be shipped overseas, ensuring that North American oil workers and those whose rights and lives have been uprooted by these companies won’t even see any long-term benefit for themselves.
Meanwhile, two years after the Deep Water Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and devastated the communities of the Gulf, BP has had a record year of profits. BP has escaped justice yet again in its recent legal victory against the shrimpers and fishermen who they’ve put out of work and the families of the workers who died under their watch.
We invite those who oppose the Tar Sands Project and who want clean air, water and soil for all to come down to Houston for a festival of resistance and alternatives to the fossil fuel economy. Let’s continue to build the power of our communities, amplify the voices of those most affected by companies like Valero, and join together in nonviolent direct action to blockade a refinery.
Friday, April 20th will be the beginning of a historic escalation in the battle for our rights to clean air and water, the struggle to bring justice to those who wreak havoc on Gulf communities, and the fight to stop these companies from destroying the planet.
We plan to wake up an oil refinery Saturday and Sunday too, escalating our blockade as necessary. And we will use our rights to public assembly and protest—rights that have been under increasing attack.
Waves of support will be welcome and needed.
We need it all. There are as many levels of involvement and risk as there are individuals, affinity groups, and organizations willing to participate.
Not everyone will want to risk arrest by participating in the refinery blockade. That’s OK. However, many people are willing and able to take that risk. We appreciate all levels of commitment.
There will be room and plans for those who wish to cooperate with the police, and there will be room and plans for those who do not wish to cooperate with the police that wish to engage in jail solidarity tactics. Come prepared to tell us what you want to do.
Contribute to the Festival: Anyone who has a desire and ability to teach a class or hold a training as part of this event should contact us. Want to present a workshop or training? Please contact our Recruitment, Training, and Personnel Committee at: otmrecruitmentandtraining@riseup.net
Offer Material Support: Donate through our website, offer a rideshare or bring a bus, bring medical supplies, donate or bring food, come prepared to cook food, bring educational materials like zines and books! Able to contribute materials for this campaign? Please contact the Logistics Committee at: otmlogistics@riseup.net Able to contribute monetary support? Please contact the Fundraising Committee at: otmfundraising@riseup.net
Be the Media: Bring your own video camera or audio recording equipment, blog on site, bring portable wireless devices, write articles, embed reporters with us! Interested in contributing to the media team? Contact our Communications and Outreach Committee at: otmcommunications@riseup.net
Be the Blockade/Bring the Blockade: Come prepared with others to participate in non-violent direct action. Once you arrive, we will train you in the tactics and strategy we plan to use to sustain this blockade. Bring puppets, bring inflatables, bring signs, bring anything that could be useful.
Come in caravans, bring your friends.Have questions about joining the blockade? Contact the Recruitment, Training, and Personnel Committee at: otmrecruitmentandtraining@riseup.net
–The Occupy the Machine Coalition
Have general questions, comments, or not sure where to direct your query? Contact us and let us know at occupythemachine@riseup.net!
The earth isn’t dying; it is being killed. And “clean energy” will only make things worse.
I should probably begin by introducing myself; my name is Alex, and I’m a recovering renewable energy advocate. For years, I was a victim of desperation and hope; I petitioned and parlayed, chanted and canvassed; I brimmed with excitement at the prospect of “green jobs” and a “renewable energy economy.” I still see much of myself in many of you.
I know what it’s like. I know exactly how it feels to look around and see a world not just dying but being suffocated, being tortured and maimed, sacrificed on the twin altars of profit and production. As a young person today, I know what it’s like to fear the future, to fear for my future. I—like many of you—have read all the studies and reports I need to see to know what’s coming, what disaster is now screaming, all but unchallenged, down the track upon us.
