COMING EVENTS + ONLINE OPPORTUNITIES — Late April 2021 and beyond
See the attached document for many events and opportunities. Live links can connect you with more information. CALENDAR — Late April 2021 and beyond
Local Government
Local governments can oppose nuclear weapons!
It is common for the public — and elected officials and the media — to think about nuclear weapons as a national or international issue FAR REMOVED from YOUR local community. But actually, if a nuclear war occurs (whether intentionally or by accident, miscalculation or computer error), YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY will be destroyed and LOCAL PEOPLE will be killed. Therefore, NUCLEAR WEAPONS REALLY ARE A LOCAL ISSUE, so ordinary people and local governments must oppose nuclear weapons! To see what a nuclear weapon would do to YOUR local community, enter your zip code into this link: And yes, it could […]
How to talk effectively about defunding the police
Many people recognize the long-standing problems of police using excessive violence — and treating racial and ethnic minorities unjustly. Efforts to improve training and to adopt “reforms” have not significantly solved the problems. Now many people are urging local governments to cut the budgets of police departments and use the savings to fund more effective nonviolent ways to provide public safety. These efforts make good sense, but some of the talk about “defunding” the police causes some members of the public to feel afraid for their safety and to push back against these changes. We can be more effective if […]
Besides Protesting What We Oppose, Let’s Organize Even More Vigorously to Accomplish Positive Goals
We need to keep protesting against the cruelty, corruption, injustice and violence that continually assault us. But if we spend most of our time and efforts fighting the bad stuff, the oppressors will continue to have the upper hand because they can keep throwing bad stuff at us and we will always be on the defensive. We need to spend most of our time and efforts taking the initiative to organize for the positive goals that we want instead. We need to be proactive, envision the future we want instead of the current mess, and organize to achieve the positive […]
WED SEPT 23, 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time: Online panel on dealing with migration caused by the climate crisis
This sounds good. I have respected the sponsoring organization for a good number of years. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_w2zZQTzZRyyLl40iPBRUdQ
Let’s build savvy grassroots movements to expand the range of what is “politically feasible.”
Elected officials, newspaper editorial boards, and other official power-holders shy away from making the bold, humane changes for social and economic justice because they say those bold reforms are not “politically feasible.” Our job is to organize strategically from the grassroots to build movements that expand the range of what is “politically feasible,” so our demands will become obviously necessary instead of dismissed as unrealistic. Instead of lamenting “ain’t-it-awful,” let’s change the awful realities by organizing strategically savvy grassroots movements! I encourage you to SIGN UP NOW for the series of 6 weekly workshops starting on YOUR CHOICE of […]
Locally and nationwide, we must CHANGE THE POLITICAL CULTURE. Sign up for these practical workshops.
Governments are the LAST to figure things out. (Mainstream news media are the next-to-last.) They will do what we want ONLY WHEN a strong nonviolent grassroots movement forces them to do what is needed. Recent history has proved this a number of times. (In the 1960s Congress passed civil rights legislation only because the Civil Rights Movement forced them to. President Obama opposed LGBTQ rights to marriage until the grassroots movement forced him to support equal rights. The list goes on and on.) Our local community includes a number of people who want to protect the environment – and protect […]
We are pushing LOCAL governments to oppose nuclear weapons in several ways
The Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (OCANW) is planning now to urge local governments to support the “Back from the Brink” proposal. That proposal rolls together FIVE PARTS into one smart package that would significantly reduce the likelihood of nuclear war. See information about it at www.preventnuclearwar.org That website’s home page includes a tab for RESOURCES that can help people at local levels organize to convince their local governments to pass resolutions supporting the package of “Back from the Brink” proposals. Recently I posted relevant information to my blog. SEE THIS LINK: http://parallaxperspectives.org/the-back-from-the-brink-campaign-promotes-five-smart-changes-to-reduce-the-danger-of-nuclear-war There is a long, successful […]
Grassroots organizers created a “Thin Green Line” that stopped oil and coal export from our Pacific ports
My workshop in my series on “Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing” recognizes problems and helps people accomplish successes for a variety of issues (peace, environment, climate, human rights, economics, etc.) We actually have accomplished MANY SUCCESSES in preventing oil export facilities and coal export facilities along our region’s Pacific coast. We worked at the grassroots for close to a decade and stopped nearly all of the proposals for exporting the U.S.’s coal and oil from ocean ports in Washington and Oregon. The odds were decidedly against us when we started, but we organized in strategically smart, vigorous ways and defeated nearly all […]
Here are several smart articles about the Green New Deal
The Green New Deal was devised for good reasons. Before the 2018 election season ramped up, people wanted to stimulate populist constituencies – including those who were not yet active in the climate movement – to start supporting bold climate actions. For this purpose – and to generate support from the labor movement and from areas that needed jobs – a federal jobs program made sense. Now people do understand at a visceral level that we need bold actions for the climate AND youth organizing such as the climate strikes AND grassroots organizing to meet the needs of local communities, […]
“Affordable Housing: Facts vs. Myths about the ‘Missing Middle'”
The April 2020 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives TV program helps the public understand the serious shortage of housing that is truly affordable for people who are not rich. Local governments in Olympia and elsewhere want to solve the problem, but they have misdiagnosed the problem, so they have proposed the wrong solutions, such as the so-called “Missing Middle.” This interview and the compelling graphs we show help you understand the real reasons for the problem – and why the “Missing Middle” would NOT solve the problems. We need better solutions. For background Glen encouraged people to watch his March […]
Momentum is growing to push pension funds, etc., to DIVEST from fossil fuels
I am seeing MANY non-profit organizations urging state governments’ pension funds and other entities (colleges, religious bodies, investment companies, etc.) to DIVEST from — SELL ALL of — their investments in fossil fuel companies. MOMENTUM IS ON OUR SIDE! Let’s increase the number of persons learning about the movement! Let’s recruit some additional persons to testify to an upcoming meeting of the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB), the small state agencies that manages the pension funds for state and local government employees and retirees. We have been testifying to WSIB’s meetings off and on since April 2014. They listen politely […]
“Let’s Boldly Create the Future We Really Want”
The June 2020 episode of my TV series “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” is already on my blog, and is watchable at any time from now into the distant future. You may also read the transcript, which ends with many links to additional sources of information. (SEE BELOW) It will air on Thurston Community Television’s channel 22 for cable TV subscribers in Thurston County WA three times a week throughout June 2020: every Monday at 1:30 pm, every Wednesday at 5:00 pm, and every Thursday at 9:00 pm. This TV program and the transcript start by confronting the serious problems in our […]
On Fri. Feb. 7, 2020, the WA State Senate committee PASSED SJM 8006 to urge Congress to reduce likelihood of nuclear war!
Today I joined a good number of members of the Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and our statewide coalition Washington Against Nuclear Weapons (www.wanwcoalition.org) attended the WA State Senate hearing on SJM 8006, and some of us (including me) testified in support. The committee PASSED the resolution, so it goes to Senate Rules Committee, which we hope will move it to the Senate Floor for final passage. Then it would go the relevant House committee for further action. Each of us had only 90 seconds to testify to the committee about SJM 8006. Here is basically what I told […]
Green New Deal: Excellent information and resources
The Green New Deal is a TRULY AMAZING AND WONDERFUL “win-win-win-win” for the climate, for jobs, for local communities, for the next generation, for social & economic justice, and more! Bernie Sanders’ Green New Deal proposal is hugely important! It is a good step toward international climate justice. SEE THESE: https://www.actionaidusa.org/blog/sanders-green-new-deal-plan-a-good-step-towards-international-climate-justice/?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=climatemonth&utm_content=sandersGND https://www.juancole.com/2019/08/sanders-manhattan-changing.html The Green New Deal would create many jobs. Let’s do it now! SEE THIS: https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/green-new-deal-could-create-lots-great-jobs-so-why-all-hate?utm_source=advocacy&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=general&utm_content=realitynow-email-7-a&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT1dOalpEbGxNMlF3WkRNMCIsInQiOiJrS3RhYU9qZVNiYTZidzNTRkNMNlA3TDhqVENKTGVHZlVMZEFCXC91R2E4WHRTSlZyeTRJSXRSNXdRZ0h3NTV4djZPMlM5Tyt6Q2cxT05cLzBmR3NwRWNWVlpIejNaWWI3dGxIMnBsbnpPWk5LQURLY0ZXRmd1aGpEQjBDdlRlQ1VDUkZQSGVVaDJ3UjN5Y3ZuK3I3RVg0Zz09In0%3D Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin say a Green New Deal is necessary if we want a future. SEE THIS: https://www.ecowatch.com/chomsky-pollin-climate-change-interview-2640451773.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=fb232e6e0f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-fb232e6e0f-85369701 See and share this informative, supportive link: www.prospect.org/greennewdeal […]