rabble.ca blogs - Joshua Kahn Russell

99% Spring: New radical alliances for a new era

Joshua Kahn Russell — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:48:11 -0400

Last month, a broad alliance of organizations from across the progressive spectrum came together to train 100,000 people in non-violent direct action in the hopes of supporting a wave of action targeting corporations and the politicians that own them. It was called 99% Spring. Some also called it "co-optation." We call it "alliance building."

The conversation within the movement has been fascinating, and reveals some key pitfalls that the resurgent U.S. Left might fall into if we're not careful.

Keystone XL denied!

Joshua Kahn Russell — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:54:55 -0500

In case you haven't heard the thunderous celebration by the North American climate movement, on Wednesday the U.S. State Department outright rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. #booyah

Tim DeChristopher sentencing: Activist punished for his politics

Joshua Kahn Russell — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:27:40 -0400

On Tuesday, July 26, Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to two years in prison and taken away from the courthouse without goodbyes or the option to self-report. In court, Tim said “You can put me in prison but it will not deter my future of civil disobedience and it won’t deter others who are willing to fight to defend a livable future.”

Outside the Courthouse, hundreds of supporters had gathered from the Salt Lake City community, singing, chanting, and speaking out as they bore witness to the sentencing.

Lessons from Tea Party Tweets

Joshua Kahn Russell — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:49:15 -0400

I've been thinking a lot lately about the activist filter bubble, the reverberating echo-chamber of insular social media and political networks that keeps progressives marginal and talking to ourselves. Recently, I've had several different Tea Party twitter accounts follow me (at least four this week alone) and began talking to friends about whether or not this means they are:

1) building lists of progressive activists for potential future smear-campaigns;

2) following their opposition so they can Retweet things out of context to scare/outrage their base; or

The Rapture didn't come, but don't worry, the world is still boiling

Joshua Kahn Russell — Sun, 22 May 2011 15:31:40 -0400

Church Sunday morning must have been quite awkward for some people. The sermon might have gone something like "I know we're all disappointed that the rapture didn't come, but don't worry, its not like it's the end of the world or anything." Ha ha.

SF to Cancun: Social movements bring hope as COP16 falters

Joshua Kahn Russell — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:39:40 -0500

The tone inside the conference center at the UN Climate Negotiations in Cancun has been a bit dismal this past week. Yet despite the reduced expectations inside, this morning the international peasant movement La Via Campesina gave us a new injection of hope and vision with a vibrant march of thousands of small farmers, Indigenous peoples and community activists through the streets in Mexico. It kicked off today's international day of action -- "1,000 Cancuns" -- where grassroots organizations across the world demonstrated local resiliency and real solutions to the climate crisis.

On climate justice organizing: A response to the board and staff of 1Sky

Joshua Kahn Russell — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:51:03 -0400

The letter below was written by a number of grassroots organizations engaged in climate justice organizing across the United States.

To the Board and Staff of 1 Sky,

We are grassroots and allied organizations representing racial justice, indigenous rights, economic justice, immigrant rights, youth organizing and environmental justice communities actively engaged in climate justice organizing.

Activists derail business school visit with Chevron CEO John Watson

Joshua Kahn Russell — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:13:54 -0400

Chevron CEO John Watson was invited to speak about "The Energy Economy" at the University of Chicago business school, Chicago Booth this morning. The event provided audience members a chance to ask Watson questions, and as it just so happens, we have a few we've been meaning to ask him.

Some friends and I were concerned about Chevron’s attempts to evade both the law and the company’s moral responsibility to clean up the 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste it deliberately dumped in the Amazon, killing 1,400 people and poisoning thousands of others. So we paid him a visit.

Environmentalists say: Stop ALL of Arizona's anti-immigrant law

Joshua Kahn Russell — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:06:02 -0400

How Bolivia celebrates Earth Day

Joshua Kahn Russell — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:51:00 -0400

This morning my email inbox was full of advocacy groups commemorating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. As the ecological systems that support life are reaching their brink, there is certainly a good reason to use this opportunity to shine a spotlight on a range of issues and challenges. But activist organizations aren't alone in commemorating today.