JANUARY 3, 2015: We’ll be preparing our Springfield Keystone Pipeline Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA). We’ll take the Action sometime between mid-January and March. It will be timed so it happens the same day 97,000 others take action – as part of the national Keystone Pledge of Resistance.
WHO SHOULD COME: Everyone who wants to participate in the Action– either by blocking TD North or supporting those who do – should come. Even if you’ve been trained, there will be plenty to do!
WHAT WE’LL DO:
9am – 11:30: Basic and Refresher training on Non-Violent Direct Resistance (NVDA). (People trained and experienced in civil disobedience may choose to come at noon.)
Noon – 3pm: Preparing for the Action. This will include Role Training, Press Advisories and Releases, Letters to the Editor, Signs and other Visuals, organizing Legal and Jail Support, tuning the Action Plan, and other tasks.
Noon – 1pm: Working lunch – please bring yours
1 – 3pm: Completing prep for the event, especially Media, Visuals, Jail Support, Police Liaison, and Support Rallies.
LOCATION: Springfield. We’re working to get the site now.
HOW TO GET UPDATES: We’ve created a Google Group so that we can easily update the list of interested people. We’ll be using this Group to send updates on local actions tied to the national Keystone Pledge of Resistance. If you’d like to be on the Google Group, please email Dave Roitman at droitman1@verizon.net. (Please note, that’s droitman1, not droitman.) Also let Dave know if you can help make phone calls to connect with other folks who want to participate. PS: We’ll also have a Facebook page soon.
BACKGROUND: Over the past two years, several dozen Pioneer Valley residents have signed the Credo “Pledge of Resistance” to participate in nonviolent direct action (NVDA) related to decision-making on the Keystone Pipeline. Through a participative process, it was decided locally that the main local NVDA action will be to block the entrance to the main branch of TD North in Springfield. (TD North is the main funder for the Keystone pipeline.) Our action will be taken together with the other 97,000 pledge signers so our voices will truly be heard. Although the date has not been announced, it looks like our action will be needed sometime in the January-March time frame.
Regardless of Pres. Obama’s recent statements, Keystone will become an appealing “bargaining chip” in 2015 as the Republican Congress works to weaken Obamacare and executive actions on immigration and coal plant regulation. He’ll need the strongest show of public support to cover his back, and we need to be prepared to repeatedly push him to veto Republican-passed Keystone XL approvals. There are now about 97,000 people throughout the country who have pledged to participate in peaceful, dignified civil disobedience, and together we will be showing Pres. Obama how important it is to us to stop the pipeline. In the meantime, we need to prepare to have the most effective action we can in Springfield.
So – please send Dave an email to get on the Google Group to get updates – and join us on January 3!
