“I can’t draw you an ideal community, but I can build you one.” Thi
s is what one of the participants at the 99% Spring training in Park Slope, employed in the construction trades, said on Saturday. Drawing an ideal community was one of the exercises I participated in along with about 150 other people this weekend.
It was a terrific training, and many of the trainers participated in the Tar Sands Action and identified it as a very meaningful turning point in their lives. One person, Belinda Rodriquez, said she read the email with the subject line: “Bill McKibben is in Jail!” and she then and there decided to come to Washington, D.C.
The trainings are a jumping off point for all of us to embrace action in our organizing, at all kinds of scales. Among the many upcoming actions, here were some mentioned at the training I participated in. They are emblematic of the kinds of activities taking place nationwide this Spring and Summer:
–Connecting the dots: at our training, many people were excited to participate in Climate Impacts Day on May 5, including the actions planned here in NYC.
–Shareholder actions: In May, people are converging on Bank of America shareholder meetings to demand accountability for home foreclosures.
RAN and many other partners are participating
–Occupy: many people at our training presented upcoming campaigns organized w/in Occupy Wall Street that are focused on student debt and Earth Day, among other things.