The killing of Tortuguita scares me. As an environmental activist, I often participate with my friends in public actions to try to bring attention to our evolving environmental crisis. I’ve realized for years that white privilege meant I didn’t feel particularly threatened by police during such actions in the past. I don’t think my Black, … Continue reading A dangerous trend toward authoritarianism
I am so glad to be part of the Buffalo Rebellion (See: https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/buffalo-rebellion/ ) Last night we had a Community Call via Zoom to reflect on the past year, hear updates of work being done, and what the future might hold. The main accomplishments of this year were Using Zoom breakout rooms, we got to … Continue reading Buffalo Rebellion Community Call: Des Moines Black Liberation
What follows is a history of the development of relationships among people of the Great Plains Action Society (GPAS) and some Quakers in the Midwest. I’ve had a lifelong concern for our environment and always wanted to learn more about Indigenous peoples and their spiritual and sustainable ways of living. But I hadn’t known how … Continue reading Great Plains Action Society and Midwest Quakers
I’m reflecting and praying about what happened this past weekend during the Climate Summit of the newly formed Buffalo Rebellion, a new coalition of Iowa organizations that are growing a movement for climate action that centers racial and economic justice. Buffalo Rebellion is a new coalition of Iowa organizations that are growing a movement for … Continue reading Building a coalition
As I’ve written about recently, we held an Earth Day Rally in Des Moines yesterday. The rally was part of the three-day Climate Summit of the Buffalo Rebellion I’m attending. After a number of people spoke, we walked to the offices of MidAmerican Energy, which has been the focus of climate activists for some time … Continue reading Earth Day Rally Des Moines
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement is working to get 1,000 of us to sign this petition to make the Des Moines City Council demand MidAmerican Energy commit to stop burning coal. MidAmerican is negotiating a new franchise agreement with Des Moines to secure a monopoly on supplying the city with energy. Sign our petition to … Continue reading Iowa opportunity to significantly cut carbon emissions
The increasingly dire environmental chaos is seen in many ways. Most recently in multiple days of tornado outbreaks in this country. In the increasingly dire warnings in the recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. And yet the Biden administration is releasing a million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And … Continue reading Banking on climate chaos
Yesterday I was struck by all the interconnected relationships among my friends at Des Moines Mutual Aid. I was happy to see my friend Donnielle at Mutual Aid for the first time yesterday. She and I were part of the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March, September 1-8, 2018. A small group of native and non-native … Continue reading Networking
Eminent domain is once again an issue as more pipelines are proposed to go through the state. These are called CO2 or Carbon pipelines. These pipelines should not be built, for many reasons. But the issue today is about the abuse of eminent domain for any reason. There will be an event related to this … Continue reading Eminent domain abuse again
I was talking with my friend Jake Grobe, of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI) recently as we were working at the Des Moines Mutual Aid free food project. (see: Des Moines Mutual Aid Networking). He knows I am a photographer and asked me to take photos at the Iowa Energy Center Meeting yesterday. The … Continue reading #StopBurningCoal
Quakers and Religious Socialism 