Make Some Noise! We Stand with Standing Rock

People Over Pipelines!

#NoDAPL Day of Action in front of 

Marathon Petroleum Headquarters

 (photos by Adrian J. Matthews)

 We were few in number, but mighty in spirit. We received numerous honks, thumbs up, and shouts of agreement from passers-by as we stood across from Marathon Petroleum Headquarters on S. Main Street of Findlay, Ohio.

 I wore my "Don't Frack Your Mother" t-shirt and held up two signs, standing along with my new activist friend, Ken. If you've never peacefully protested before, it's not scary. Do it! You'll find it to be an exhilarating experience.

 Besides receiving positive feedback from motorists and pedestrians, we also were interviewed by local radio and newspaper reporters. We stayed on message and shared the story of what is happening at Standing Rock. It is amazing how well-received it was and how many expressed a similar outrage at what Marathon Petroleum and others were doing there.

 Remember: Water is life, and all life on our small planet is interconnected. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters at Standing Rock and elsewhere whose right to safe, clean water and land are being abridged in the name of dirty oil and the fossil fuel industry's obscene profits. 

I'll share more of our story later, but I want to encourage you to share your photos and stories of your Day of Action for the Dakota Access Pipeline. Please email them to us at thebernieblog2016@gmail.com. This is only the first action of many, so I'm sure we'll have plenty of stories to tell! (Now on to this week's blog with more hints on how to help spread the word and shut down the pipeline.)

Here's what Bernie had to say on September 13: https://youtu.be/uCvWQtGCALE

Make Some Noise!
We Stand with Standing Rock

by Cindy A. Matthews

We can't stand still for the atrocities happening at Standing Rock. We've come to a time as a country, as a people, as a planet when we have to take a stand and fight against the injustices and naked greed perpetrated upon us by the one percenters and their puppets of the establishment party, the "Demo-Reps". It is time to make some noise.

What sort of "noise" should we make? Not unorganized, cacaphonous, grating noise but a unified voice expressing our outrage at how our rights, our health, the safety of our very water and land are being taken away without our permission. The example we should follow is from the Civil Rights Movement, that is, civil disobedience.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein performed a perfect act of civil disobedience at Standing Rock. She spray painted, "I approve this message," on the blade of a bulldozer. She has been charged with misdemeanor vandalism and trespass. She received national news coverage and numerous newspaper stories she otherwise wouldn't have received. Not a bad way to attract attention to what is happening at Standing Rock, is it?

There has been an "Arab Spring", a "Democracy Spring", a "Summer of Love" and even a "winter of our discontent." Why not a "Stand Up to Tyranny Autumn"? Yeah, I know that's not a catchy phrase, but I'm certain you can come up with a much better one.

And I'm even more certain you can come up with ways to demonstrate your anger against the tyrannical one percent. The Standing Rock "protectors" are giving us a great example of how to show the world we will no longer cooperate with "lesser evils" and will instead "fight for the greater good." 

Global Weeks of Action against the pipeline run from now until September 17th. Visit the website at nodaplsolidarity.org and take advantage of the media and outreach materials and an excellent list of links to nonviolent direct action resources.

On Tuesday, September 13, there will be a nationwide Day of Action with events throughout the country calling on President Obama to revoke the permits for this pipeline. Go to this link  and enter your zip code to see if there's an event planned near you. If there isn't, please consider starting your own. Tell your friends, family and neighbors to sign up as well.

If you're not able to travel or get out in public, other ways to  help the cause is to write letters to the editor of newspapers, tweet, email and make phone calls to the companies and individuals responsible for the Dakota Access Pipeline in the first place. Democracy Now! in this video reveals the corporations financing the pipeline we should be calling and mailing. You'll recognize a lot of them--CitiCorp, Goldman Sachs, Sunoco, Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66. You might even find one of their places of business in your city. Plan a direct action event there if you can.

The main thing  to keep in mind is to stay on message. The people of Standing Rock are staying on message. Their message: "Our water, land, culture and our very lives are at stake--do not build this pipeline!" This moving short video by native women, "I am not a protester. I am a protector", shows you how effective their message is. If your group can stay on message, cultivate allies within the media (local and alternative media count), and keep your cool when attacked verbally and/or physically by those enslaved to the one-percent's whims, then eventually you will be heard and your cause will be acknowledged by the majority as just and worthy.

Will we be successful? Eventually. Will we see the change we want to see happen overnight? In all honesty, probably not. But we will see some change in the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans. Together, we will realize a better world for all. 

Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., less than 24 hours before his assassination, told an overflowing crowd in Memphis: “We got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop…I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”

We will get to the Promise Land. But first we must stand together and stand tall with the water protectors of Standing Rock. Don't be shy-- Our Revolution needs every revolutionary to take action and spread the word!

 Update 7 PM, 9-9-16:  Joint Statement from the Department of Justice, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior Regarding Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/joint-statement-department-justice-department-army-and-department-interior-regarding-standing

In short, the Army told the Corps of Engineers to halt (for now). We're not out of the woods yet, so keep up the noise. Don't let them forget we're not stopping until the Dakota Access Pipeline project is shut down for good. 

According to Brand New Congress:

Just today, a judge denied the tribe's request to stop construction of the pipeline. Fortunately, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers replied to that, and refused to authorize its construction on Corps land, but the tribe's lands are far from being safe. The permits for the pipeline need to be fully revoked.

Let’s support - in whatever way we can - the 8,000 people who are fighting for the protection of sacred lands and local water systems. Below are some of the ways we can all pitch in:

• Donate money or supplies directly to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
• Contribute to the legal defense fund for Sacred Stone Spirit Camp.
• Contribute to the Sacred Stone Camp gofundme page.

If you are unable to donate or send supplies, you can:

• Call the North Dakota Governor at 701-328-2200. Let him know what you think of what he is allowing to happen to these lands.
• Call the Army Corp of Engineers at 202-761-5903. Demand that they reverse the permit for the building of the pipeline.

***

 Here's what Bernie Sanders has to say about the Dakota Access Pipeline Protest:

"The major global crisis facing our planet today is climate change. The vast majority of scientists tell us that climate change is real, it is caused by humans and it is already causing devastating problems. They say that if we do not aggressively transition our energy system away from fossil fuels toward energy efficiency and sustainable energy, the planet we leave our children will be a much less habitable place.

"Like the Keystone XL pipeline, which I opposed since day one, the Dakota Access fracked oil pipeline will transport some of the dirtiest fuel on the planet. Regardless of the court’s decision, the Dakota Access pipeline must be stopped. As a nation, our job is to break our addiction to fossil fuels, not increase our dependence on oil. I join with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many tribal nations fighting this dangerous pipeline."

Bernie and Tara Houska, his Native American advisor on the campaign trail, will be speaking on Tuesday, September 13, on the Day of Action in Washington, DC.

Can Our Revolution count on your support? Click on this link to Our Revolution to sign the petition, then get to work spreading the news about what is happening in North Dakota and everywhere our land, air and water are being threatened. Let those in authority know in no uncertain terms what we want done about it.

***

The short video below gives some more background information on the Dakota Access Pipeline situation. The link takes you to petition that will be presented to President Obama. Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline:  
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/NoDAPL/
  

This Democracy Now! interview with tribal historian LaDonna Brave Bull Allard is quite revealing of both past and present injustices perpetrated against the Sioux people of Standing Rock Reservation. Watch it and learn a heartbreaking part of American history most of us are never taught in school. 

Information is power.  Share this story/video. Let us not repeat history! (http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/8/standing_rock_sioux_historian_dakota_access)

This video by Democracy Now! shows journalist Amy Goodman at Standing Rock the day the private mercenaries attacked the protectors with pepper spray and dogs: https://youtu.be/A-TT8emhvEE 

An expert on law enforcement dog handling discusses the incident: https://youtu.be/LbU3_vgwMEU

This Periscope video by Talibah Begay tells what happened that day from the protectors' viewpoint: https://www.facebook.com/talibah.begay/posts/1259033740816118

***

To end on a lighter note, this past week our devoted leader in the political revolution, Senator Bernie Sanders, celebrated his 75th birthday. Bernie also spoke on Labor Day about the struggles of activists throughout history. Let his words give us courage and strength to fight the good fight. Watch this Facebook video and see what I mean.

Happy birthday, Bernie! May you have many, many more as you help us create "a future to believe in."