Spreading the Peaceful Uprising

By scott parkin
Tim Dechristopher
via publicbroadcasting.net

Time flies.

It was a little over two and half years ago that our dear friend and comrade Tim DeChristopher went into a federal land auction and stopped an illegal sale of Utah wilderness to the oil and gas industry. He was subsequently charged with two felonies and, last February, was convicted of them.

Next week, he’s set to be sentenced by a federal judge.

In the past six months, Tim’s voice calling for civil disobedience and a peaceful uprising against corporate fossil fuel companies has become louder and louder. And it’s working. In collaboration with grassroots activists all over the continent, direct action for climate justice is spreading and growing.

Next Tuesday, the group that Tim co-founded, Peaceful Uprising, is organizing actions at federal courthouses and federal buildings across the country in solidarity with the sentencing happening in Salt Lake City. The time for talk and compromise on vital issues like climate change and fossil fuel extraction is past. Now is the time to get involved, take risks and try to make a difference.

Here’s how you can plug in:

1.Solidarity Actions: We are calling on activists to demonstrate solidarity and show our rejection of a corrupt justice system, by staging actions at federal district courts around the nation. Help send the government a clear message of love and outrage: we will not be intimidated or deterred. Register here.

2. Letters to the Editor: Our goal is to flood the national press leading up to July 26th. You can use Peace Up’s letter to the editor template and their talking points as tools to buttress your own personal perspective when you express to your local media what the climate crisis and Tim’s prosecution mean to you. Reach out to publications, community radio, and any local networks and help us make this happen.

Real change will come from the bottom, not from Presidents or Kings, and not from silver bullet events that awaken the world with an “a-ha,” but from long hard work on the ground building a movement.