We have so much to celebrate this month! Plus plenty of climate action opportunities for you to take with us. We’ve also got more community shoutouts and appreciations, and of course our annual fundraising gala and celebration, Intertwined, is coming up on the 19th.
We’re also celebrating and honoring the historic leadership of our new Executive Director, Shemona Moreno—longtime 350 Seattle climate activist and the first Black and Latina Executive Director to lead our organization.
Let’s dig into this month’s newsletter!
GET YOUR TICKETS TO INTERTWINED!
Raffle! Trivia! Growler Grab! It’s time to get excited, 350 Seattle Community!
Come celebrate Shemona Moreno, our new Executive Director and our powerful 3-Year Strategic Vision at our annual fundraising gala, Intertwined.
Intertwined: 350 Seattle’s Annual Fundraiser Event
Saturday, November 19, 2022: Doors open at 6:00pm, program begins at 7:00pm
Metropolist, 2931 First Ave. S, Seattle 98134, + livestream
In-person and virtual options (+ raffle), tickets and donations here
We’re beyond honored to have as our keynote speaker Katie Garrow, Executive Secretary Treasurer at MLK Labor Council, and we’re excited to have Debolina Banerjee from Puget Sound Sage, Clara Cantor from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and Whose Streets Our Streets, and Jill Mangaliman from BAYAN and former ED of Got Green participating in an Environmental Justice Panel moderated by our wonderful Renaissance. We hope to see you there!
Many thanks to our growing list of sponsors for this event:
MLK Labor Council, IBEW 46 and Teamsters 117, Save Our Wild Salmon, PROTEC 17, SEIU 1199, AECJ, WSLC
We are poised to achieve many more great things. So, please come and celebrate the progress we’ve made, and our commitment to the long haul! It’s time to celebrate our successes, and fund this essential work.
We hope to see you there!
HELP GREEN THE SEATTLE 2023 BUDGET
It’s City of Seattle budget season! 350 Seattle has been a member of and partnering with Seattle Solidarity Budget for a few years and now is a crucial time to take action. Mayor Harrell’s proposed budget covers budget shortfalls now and into the future by raiding the Jumpstart Fund—stealing money from affordable housing, small business, and Green New Deal.
The Solidarity Budget is a community driven process of defining a Seattle budget that is by the people and for the people. It directly challenges the theory that more punitive measures and agents should have a priority over social services, access to health care, housing accessibility, and climate related progress. Essentially, the Solidarity Budget spells out the investments that will activate and sustain programs and resources that get at the root causes of many of the things the city budget wants to merely throw more cops at.
Here are 3 ways to help win a more just budget:
- Send the City Council this email to protect Jumpstart and Green New Deal (this call to action from Solidarity Budget ally Puget Sound Sage)
- Send this email to speak up for safe streets and climate-friendly transportation in the budget (and this one from Cascade Bikes)
- Save the dates and comment to Council! There will be two more budget hearings, Tuesday November 8, 9:30am and Tuesday, November 15, 5:00pm, and also Budget Committee Public Comment on Monday, November 21, 9:30am, as well as opportunity to send in written comments. Details, call and email scripts will be updated here.
FEDERAL POLICY TEAM
With the midterm elections landing next week, the Federal Policy Team will be considering which way to turn—towards stronger federal policy on climate (if we keep the House and Senate in Democratic hands) or towards pushing Biden to declare a climate emergency (if the Democrats lose either the House or Senate.)
While a loss of either chamber would be unfortunate, there is much to accomplish at the Executive level. And luckily for 350 Seattle, we are part of a large coalition called People Vs Fossil Fuels, which has very smart and energized leaders who can help us determine how we at our Federal Policy Team should best proceed. Note that regardless of election results, we will continue to push for strong climate provisions in the Farm Bill, which is passed every 5 years regardless of which party is in power. Contact Selden if you’d like to learn more about our team. And join our team here.
AVIATION TEAM
Our Aviation Team has been busy contradicting greenwashing attempts by the aviation industry. Are “Sustainable Aviation Fuels” really sustainable? Can they solve the warming effects of aviation? Of course not—check out our 2-page position paper, which we have shared in meetings with elected officials and other environmental groups.
Can we get justice for aviation-impacted communities? We are actively backing the Fix the Harm Campaign led by the Beacon Hill Council and El Centro De La Raza. Can Washington build a new regional airport and still meet our climate goals? No—the industry is dreaming, as one of us explained in this extensive KUOW interview. So much is happening and we could use your help! Contact Laura to join us!
ARTFUL ACTIVISM TEAM
Join the Artful Team
Sign up here! (Scroll all the way down that page to sign up.) Skills welcomed, not at all required. Join us! We’ll teach you as you go! We are developing roles for our art builds so that teams will run the builds with art leads’ support to spread the love. And for everyone, collaborative team tasks like tracing, cutting, twisting ties, painting in between the lines, etc. are always a welcoming and fun way to be a part of the action. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you want to try a little something more in a supportive, learning, fun, and connecting atmosphere with other people who care enough to show up, and who accept you as you are. Maybe you’re experienced in performance arts (theater, spoken word, music, dance, and beyond), visual arts (graphic design, painting, drawing, screen printing, building props, and so much more). Or maybe you are an organized person, or you like data and want to help with the imagery or photo library behind the scenes, or people with creative strategic humor and energy who like to brainstorm. Whatever calls you to the Artful Team, this team is for you! Contact Lisa at this email address.
Join the Art Deployment Team
Sign up here! The Deployment Team we are building will bring collaborative, powerful, and beautiful art to events for our campaigns and those of requesting partner orgs—and volunteers play an important role in all the logistics that make the magic happen! Learn how to do various roles like transport, set up, position, and animate art at events, and how to recruit and guide other volunteers to do the same!
Join The People’s Echo
Stay connected to The People’s Echo for updates on community singing opportunities!
For questions, email the team here.
Join Story Circle
Story Circle will be hosting a book club to read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer this winter. The book is divided into 5 sections, and we will use that structure to guide our pacing through the book. Please register here! Discussion dates:
- Planting Sweetgrass: November 15, 6:00–7:00pm
- Tending Sweetgrass: November 29, 6:00–7:00pm
- Picking Sweetgrass: December 13, 6:00–7:00pm
- Braiding Sweetgrass: December 27, 6:00–7:00pm
- Burning Sweetgrass: January 10, 6:00–7:00pm
NOTE: our standard final-Friday Story Circle sessions are canceled for November and December due to popular holidays. We will see you again in January, when we will start making our second zine!
We also thought that two upcoming classes at Hugo House would be interesting to those who want to build climate stories: Weaving Science Into Story (Nov 12, 10am-1pm) and Building Characters from Real Life (Nov 19, 10am-1pm). These classes will be taught by Madeline Ostrander, an environmental journalist based here in Seattle!
Madeline also just published a book, At Home on an Unruly Planet: Finding Refuge on a Changed Earth. Madeline writes with a clear voice that compassionately outlines the emergency that we all know and feel. She explores the inherent connection between home and earth through reflective essays woven together with four community-based stories (wildfires in the PNW, flooding in Florida, collapsing permafrost in Alaska, and a refinery accident in California). She urges us to reexamine how to live so that we may continue to have safe places in the future. We’d recommend a read!
350 PNW CALL
This month we are thrilled to convene our semi-regular gathering of 350 climate organizers from across the Pacific Northwest in WA, AK, OR, ID, and MT. And we have some incredible special guests! Dan from Columbia Riverkeeper & Maig from Rogue Climate (OR) speaking on the GTN Xpress Pipeline, and Doug Howell from Save Our Wild Salmon sharing the latest on efforts to remove the Lower Snake River Dams.
350 PNW Regional Conversation: GTN Xpress Pipeline & Lower Snake River Dams
Monday, November 14, 6:30–7:30pm
Online, register here.
This special regional gathering is a place of connection and relationship building as we continue to build resilience into the regional movement for climate justice, and is open to all 350 activists and community members.
ANTI-WAR EFFORTS
The 350 Seattle climate-war intersection work group continues to organize with the Seattle AntiWar Coalition (SAWC) and the Washington Against Nuclear Weapons coalition (WANW). We’ve also created a presentation about the intersection between the climate crisis and militarism, and we would be glad to share it with any individuals or workgroups within 350 Seattle. Contact Mary to learn more.
In October, Veterans for Peace – Greater Seattle, Chapter 92 sponsored a month-long exhibit at Suzzallo/Allen Library on the UW campus, “Waging Peace in Vietnam: The Story of US Soldiers and Veterans Who Opposed the War.” Two UW students spoke at the end of the film event about the work they are doing on campus with the organization “Resist US-Led War.” They are raising awareness about and campaigning against UW’s connection with Boeing, because of Boeing’s role in the military industrial complex. Did you know that “the military industrial complex” is bigger than that? It’s actually the military-industrial-congressional-intelligence-media-academia-think tank complex.
We recommend this upcoming gathering on the Olympic Peninsula, part of reclaiming the original meaning of November 11 as “Armistice Day,” a day to celebrate peace.
Celebrating the Original Meaning of Armistice Day
Saturday, November 12, 1:00–4:00pm
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action; 16159 Clear Creek Rd NW, Poulsbo, WA 98370
More information here.
We also invite you to join us for the first-Tuesday monthly AntiWar protest at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building downtown, streamed on the Seattle AntiWar facebook page and in person. At the November protest, Christa E. gave a reportback of the conference she attended as a solidarity member of the Black Alliance for Peace (more on that in a future article), and Mary spoke about Washington’s enormous role in the nuclear weapons industry and the current threats we face.
Monthly Anti-War Protest
Tuesday, December 6, 11:30am–12:30pm
Henry M. Jackson Federal Building, 915 2nd Ave, Seattle, 98104
CLIMATE GRIEF AND EMPOWERMENT
Times of crisis remind us that we need each other; that life is precious, and we have much to be grateful for. Let us find ways to come together and find our way through this. Let us connect, be a part of the solutions, and build a better world, together. You are invited to feel, digest, and move through grief together at the next Climate Grief and Empowermentgatherings.
Climate Grief and Empowerment Monthly Gathering
Saturday, November 12 and December 10, 10:00–11:45am
Online, register here separately for each one you will attend.
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
Do you have a skill or service you would like to offer at reduced or no charge to the 350 Seattle activist community as a way to take part in and support the work we do? Please fill out this form and we’ll get back with you! Thanks!
The climate movement requires many skills and talents. You don’t have to be an organizer, protest-goer, phone-banker, or someone who’s ready for civil disobedience to get involved in climate justice. We need you: teachers, carpenters, gardeners, personal trainers, mechanics, therapists, accountants, lawyers, nutritionists, hairdressers, herbalists, storytellers, knitters, comedians, acupuncturists, midwives, bakers, chefs, child and pet care providers, care-givers, doctors, dentists, massage therapists, healers, nutritionists, farmers, all the arts (which we link with our Artful team), and MORE.
Photos wanted for our photo library
We want your photos! Did you take photos at a recent 350 Seattle event, art build, or action? Are you willing to share any great shots that you captured with our community? Submit your best images to our Photo Library to share them with our community for use in our organization’s storytelling, including our outreach, communications, and fundraising efforts. Here are our guidelines and the email address for submitting photos to our library editors.
Videos!
Check out the 350 Seattle YouTube page for event content and DIY Art how-to videos, recordings of past general meetings, webinars, and awesome trainings.
SHOUTOUTS & APPRECIATIONS
Have a shoutout to share about a 350 Seattle community member? Tell us all about it here and we will celebrate your shoutout in our newsletter.
Thank you to Neal A. for your long time leadership and service in our community, and for all of the incredible ways you show up for and support the work we do together. You are generous and joyful with your time and energy, whether it’s providing your photography skills to help tell the story of our actions and events, or helping with Zoom facilitation when we welcome new volunteers, or helping to haul things across town, or engaging in critical conversations about how to support volunteers in growing their own organizing and activism skills—thank you for your commitment and your flexibility and for caring so much about the 350 Seattle community! –Grace
Jason W. has been a steady and responsive creative part of the art leads team for the last year. He regularly steps up to do behind the scenes organizing in areas like the Equity Filter and capacity building as well as adding his awesome art skills, experience with youth, and fun people centered presence. Jason is a joy to work with. –Lisa
SOLIDARITY ACTIONS AND EDUCATION
UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE (COP27)
The COP27 meetings this year (Nov. 6-18) are in Egypt where tens of thousands of political prisoners are locked up for civic protest. Now, as the meeting nears, hundreds more are being rounded up because the government fears that they will demonstrate about climate change and Egypt’s repressive government at the COP meetings.
One prisoner, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who was active in the 2010 Arab Spring demonstrations, has been in prison and tortured for years for “spreading false news”. He has been on a hunger strike for two years and now says that he will stop eating or drinking anything when COP27 starts—which means he will die during the conference. You can read more about this in Naomi Klein’s recent article about COP27 in The Guardian.
International groups have organized petitions to governments attending the conference, and 15 Nobel Laureates have signed a letter to world leaders demanding the release of Abd El-Fattah and other political prisoners. We, as activists concerned about human rights and the deadly effects of climate change should urge Biden to demand the release of Alaa.Please write to President Biden using this site and here is an example of a simple message you can send:
President Biden,
Please use your considerable power to get Alaa Abd El-Fattah out of the Egyptian prison where he has been on a hunger strike for two years. He is in prison for voicing his opinion about democracy. He plans to stop eating or drinking anything next week and will die during the COP27 meetings.
The international Conference of Parties is being held in a police state, and we have an opportunity to stand up for human rights and demand that prisoners in jail for demanding democratic norms be set free.
350 EASTSIDE COMMUNITY MEETING
Our neighbors at 350 Eastside invite you to a special conversation about forests and climate.
Focus: Forests, Forestry, and Climate
Guest Speakers: Snoqualmie Tribe representative, Ben Hagedorn, and Victoria Wingell
Wednesday, November 16, 7:00–8:30pm
Online; Zoom link, Meeting ID: 828 7707 3725, Passcode: 798154
Western Washington’s forests store a substantial amount of carbon. It’s stored in trees, in shrubs and plants in the understory, and in the soil. With such great carbon storage potential, ensuring continued forest health and resiliency, through preservation and management should be considered among the highest priorities in efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. We will be learning about the characteristics of a healthy forest and some of the policies that impact what happens to our forests in the future.
A representative from the Snoqualmie Tribe will be highlighting the cultural and traditional connection with forests and talking about how Indigenous People care for forests through management and stewardship.
Ben has a master’s degree in environmental studies, focused primarily on how climate change and variability influence spatial patterns of forest growth over time. He will explain some factors that contribute to forest health and how to recognize a healthy forest.
Victoria works as a Forests and Climate Campaigner for Oregon Wild. She will speak about policies that people can pursue and actions they can take to help forests sequester more carbon. Victoria will be going into depth on the opportunities and obstacles faced by supporters, and what grassroots engagement can mean moving forward.
GET INVOLVED!
Do you care about climate justice? Want more general information about 350 Seattle? Then check out this handy Welcome Guide for new volunteers.
Here are some really great ways to start on that path of engagement! Check out our updated Volunteer Opportunities List and our event calendar. Opportunities range from low commitment to high, introductory to skilled. All you have to do is find something you’re excited about and reach out! Unless otherwise noted, all opportunities can be done from home.
Unsure what you want to do? Still have questions about who we are and what we do? Come hang out with us at our monthly virtual orientation and get connected with real people
Monthly Intro to 350 Seattle Call
Monday, November 21, 6:00pm
Online, register here.
And you can also schedule a time to connect with staff member Grace Hope for a phone or video chat.
No time for all that? Well, never fear—you can support the work we do at 350 Seattle by becoming a monthly donor! Sign up here!
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350 Seattle is an independent local affiliate of the global 350.org. We are not legally or financially connected to 350.org. We’re funded by supporters like you! Click here to make a donation today.
350 Seattle
5031 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
United States