Getting The Band Back Together - The #BillionPeopleMarch
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- Published on Tuesday, 15 December 2015 15:00
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We are activating again.
With the #BillionPeopleMarch on December the 19th, Adbusters is launching a new strategy in the fight for climate justice, this time on an international scale.
To be clear, we're not proposing a directive. Horizontal movements do not work that way and we would never violate that principle.
But we are asking for your help.
I’m writing to you as a fellow former Occupier and the current Campaign Coordinator with Adbusters. No doubt some of you have been diligently working away all this time, keeping the faith. A better world is possible, no? This is noble.
Some of you and your affinity groups have fallen away. Some of you have taken up the fight in other ways – this was one of the great hidden victories of Occupy: an infusion of dedicated activists and organizers flooding into established campaigns, grassroots groups and NGOs. Others have returned, grudgingly, to everyday life. Trying to make the best of it for you and your loved ones: this too is noble.
But we all know the truth that brought us together in the first place still remains.
The game is rigged. And the longer we play, the more we all lose.
Since Adbusters played a role in sparking the original Occupy, it seems appropriate to be reaching out to all of you now.
I won’t pretend that I know much about what Adbusters’ relationship with you was like during the heady days of the Occupations themselves; during that time I did not work for Adbusters. What I remember is watching the live streams of General Assemblies in the streets of New York City, as they were just beginning. It was incredible. I couldn’t believe it was finally happening. People everywhere were waking up to the long con and were finding ways to work together (however imperfectly) for a better world.
I lived at the Occupation for the full 5-week period. We occupied the space just outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery in October 2011. I slept in the camp on the very first night and nearly every night thereafter. I participated in the general assemblies as well as in our actions, ranging from a series mobile occupations called the run on the banks to holding space with indigenous women to demand justice from a government that has failed them for far too long.
I’m sure you remember those times. We worked together, despite our differences, and some of what happened can only be described as magical. Many of us realized for the first time that we had lived totally unaware of how corporate interests distort and twist our society. That participation in this society is by choice. That together, we have the affective capacity to create tangible change.
Multiple people learned to read. A child was conceived. People learned just how much shared solidarity existed between working people from all walks of life, how much there was to learn from our differences. We participated in ongoing debates about strategy and power. We shocked elected officials and discovered unlikely allies in all corners of the world.
At our encampment some got clean, many others benefitted from a needle exchange. We had at least 2 overdoses in our camp. One made national news and resulted in a death – our medic saved the life of the other, which remained unreported. The cops used the OD as fuel to fire their destroy the camp campaign: crocodile tears for one overdose out of the thousands that happen yearly on their watch in the city streets of the DTES. Pushed into the shadows by a drug war that serves as a thinly veiled war on the poor. The Occupation was not without its faults, particularly in regards to the safety of marginalized groups and women, however, we’re sure that for many, liberation has never existed to that extent. It was an empowering moment.
I’m sure your occupations were full of similar stories of solidarity, learning, and direct action.
Now we hope to rekindle that fire. Many activists and organizations had been planning massive demonstrations for the COP21 in Paris, but dissent is now officially banned and under the constraints of Martial Law. Marches that would have drawn hundreds of thousands have been shuttered, many are left scrambling to find a way to raise their voice at this important hour. As of this writing, activists in Paris are being subjected to house arrest to prevent dissent. This is a moment when the environmental justice movement cannot afford to be cowed. We must be louder, more determined, and increasingly decentralized in our response.
We’re hoping you’ll join us. One week after the close of the conference on #D19, Adbusters is coordinating with direct actions groups, environmental organizations, and civil society mobilizers in launching the #BillionPeopleMarch. This is the first salvo in a global campaign of big-bang moments designed to topple the current economic order.
We’re not just asking for you to read this and pass it on. We know you are the people that can make things happen on the ground. You have the skills, the network, and you’ve proven that you care about fighting for a better world.
Lets fight for one now.
Get in touch with us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." target="_blank">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or head to www.billionpeoplemarch.org/organize to register an action. It can be a march, occupation or any kind of direct action.