Power Shift Takeaways (Brian)

Friday, October 18

Dave, Paul and Peter from 350 Madison saw us off at the James Madison Park parking lot. Teresa drove her Subaru all the way to Pittsburgh!

Soon after we registered, keynote Josh Fox (Gasland) played the “Star Spangled Banner” on his banjo. Did you know our national anthem gained popularity as a bar song? Yeah, so Fox says obviously this country is something that we just make up as we go along. I think he’s right – hence our trip to Power Shift.

We ate dinner at the famed Primanti Brothers. Teresa’s and Erik’s sandwiches  came with fries – inside the ‘wich! Keari ordered “vegetable” soup. My Smallman Street Fries (minus the chili – they were out) were worth the excessive calories.

Saturday October 19th

We ordered breakfast at Bagel Factory. We were so satisfied that we returned for breakfast on Sunday and again on Monday.

The first two sessions were talks on environmental justice. Latasha Mayes (New Voices Pittsburgh) talked about intersectionality and how the way we treat womens bodies resembles the way treat environment. Siwatu from Detroit reminded us that viewing environmental justice through the lens of Public Health is a win. The key takeaway from this session: people's stories and experiences are their expertise.

The second environmental justice session reminded me that we should stay connected with frontline communites. Aurora lives on the Bad River Reservation in Wisconsin. The Penokee Hills taconite mine is 10 miles south of the reservation; the waters run north. Despite the peril that natives face, good-humored Aurora tells us that she’s warned supporters of the mine: I face a choice between "fight or flight ... and I have nowhere else to go." Let’s fight with Aurora and the people of Bad River Reservation!

Hannah Jones and the Swarthmore divestment campaigners have led by example; they fight in solidarity with a frontline community affected by mountain top removal and invite those folks to speak at Swarthmore. This chat’s moderator, who works for Green for All, reminds us that the green economy is going to be enjoyed by those who have access; this comment provoked me to think deeply about my privilege and the obligation that I have to push for social change that is truly just.

The speaker from Brooklyn reminded me to understand where people are coming from, unpoliticize my language when necessary, and come from a place of love.

The first breakout session that I went to was about divestment. Never before had so many students working on a divestment been in the same room. We broke up into groups. Groups talked about getting a campaign started, reinvestment, escalation, etc. The group that I participated in talked about getting around burocracy. We were shown an example of power mapping. Choose an individual target (i.e. Foundation chair) and a secondary target (i.e. someone with influence over the primary target). After the “ask,” we will probably get a “no”; then we start the excalation phase and continue to put pressure on the targets. After this small group, the same divestment group got together in a circle outside the room and had the first ever national network meeting. The national group’s leaders are putting together working groups to keep us connected with each other and with frontline groups. Teresa and I met Victoria from UC-Berkeley, who recruited by tabling and doing class raps. The key to her recruitment successes was having one-on-one conversations.

Campus Media. Lessons learned:

UNC-Chapel Hill worked to win the support of their newspaper’s editorial board. A Sierra Club representative talked about three tools: earned media, paid media, and organizing / visibility. Start by framing the debate. Pick the right words; tailor the message to whoever you are talking to. Also be sure to understand your opponents’ framing. The Sierra rep explained message boxes: 1. define a problem; 2. articulate a solution; 3. describe the benefits; 4. make a call to action around your message. Repetition is key. The “rule of 7” says people need to hear your message repeated seven times before they internalize it. On camera and radio, use ABC: A- Acknowledge the question; B- Bridge from the question to your message; C-Communicate your message (stay on topic!). George Washington University had a lot of fun. They held a wind farm photo petition, a mock oil spill (wearing hazmat suits and using inflatable animals and chocolate syrup for props), and a fashion show.

The campus media audience asked some great questions. A good tip: get a community member with more sway to write an op-ed. A group in Knoxville did face painting at a farmers market, accomplishing both community awareness and fundraising. WPI repeated their message prior to an event by writing “Divest WPI” everywhere around campus. Also, put together a press packet to show your audience (i.e. your primary target) the media attention you’ve been attracting.

Recruitment. Lessons learned:

350 Fossil free organizers led this workshop. For a recruitment drive, they suggest: 1 goal 2 tactics 3 work backward from your goal on a timeIine.  An example of the “rule of halves”: you have 800 phone numbers, you call 400, 200 say yes, and 100 show up at the event. I exchanged business cards with Andrea (Stanford) and Ben (Michigan State). The Stanford crew takes applications and then storms dorm rooms early in the morning to take a student out to breakfast; it’s a sort of initiation, which purportedly works for retention. Ben suggests asking another group if you can show up at their meeting to announce your event. All say making phone calls is key. Get phone numbers from people!

By the end of the first day of information overload, I was exhausted.

350 UW ate at My Big Fat Greek Gyro.

Sunday, October 20

Fueled by another bagel breakfast, we made a detour to take a group photo by the giant duck on the Allegheny River. With so many Steelers fans on their way to the Sunday game against Baltimore, I had to refrain from reminding Pittsburghers that the Packers spanked the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.

350 Midwest organizer, Jarrett, bought us campus coordinators lunch at Primanti Brothers. Kristine (UW-Eau-Claire) and Brittney (Loyola) had each traveled to China recently. Christine's boyfriend is on a “watch list,” and Brittney could not see through Beijing’s smog. Somebody recommended The Price of Sand, a documentary about frac sand mining in Wisconsin.Good fellowship and good food – it doesn’t get any better than that.

Okay, just one last breakout – meeting with other Wisconsin groups!

We’re going to be setting up a Facebook page to keep Wisconsin campuses connected. I was also excited to hear that Northland College and UW-Milwaukee are visiting the Penokee Hills mine site in the first week of November. I may try to organize a carpool from UW-Madison so that we can join those folks.

That evening, all the big names spoke, and we enjoyed the music of Yuna. As we were leaving, Bill McKibben stopped to take a picture with us!

Dinner at Las Velas was excellent.

Monday, October 21

Bagel Factory for breakfast again. Teresa and I ordered the french toast. Delicious. That morning, a group did a sit-in at PNC bank; streets were blocked-off by polite officers; coal workers gathered on the other side of the bridge, in rebuttal. We stayed long enough to enjoy the pep rally prior to the march. (Teresa had a long drive ahead of her.) The speakers and performers at this pre-march rally were excellent, but I have to say that the most intriguing part of it all was that I was the first person to use the Porta Potty.

Our last stop before home: Panda Express. Worth it.

That’s my Power Shift story. I’m super grateful for the donations we received. Support from Mark Johnson, Don Waller, and 350 Madison made this trip affordable. Thank you!