On Earth Day 2023, we declare the era of fossil fuels OVER.

Humanity is at a crossroads. Now is when we decide how we want to go on as a civilization. Will we create a livable, just, equitable future for everyone? Or will we let present and future generations live with chaos and destruction? The planet’s life supporting systems are disintegrating, and our environment needs to be restored.

Our biggest challenge is ending our reliance on fossil fuels and transitioning to renewable energy. To secure a livable future, we cannot afford new fossil fuel projects. We need the U.S. government in particular to say NO to fossil fuels. Our planet is on fire, and we can’t feed this fire any longer. 

We come from all different backgrounds, fighting for a huge variety of intersecting causes. From plastics and biodiversity, to housing, anti-war, immigrant rights and gender and racial equality—our crises are interconnected, and our movement is stronger together.

To make the biggest difference, we need not just individual actions, but system change like we’ve never seen before. ​

This April we come together, fighting for climate justice and real change from decision-makers. We are demanding the federal government and other decision-makers end the era of fossil fuels to protect people and the planet. 

2023 will be the most critical year yet for action on climate. It will be one of our last chances to mitigate the interlocking crises we face. We are fighting for a systemic change—and it can begin with you. There’s no time to waste.

12 noon – Youth-led rally in Freedom Plaza 

Join us at 12 noon for a youth-led (but everybody included!) rally in Freedom Plaza. This one-hour rally will feature voices of young people from around DC and across the country, front line leaders fighting the worst impacts of climate change, and music from the Too Much Talent Band.

1pm - March to the White House 

At 1pm we’re taking to the streets and marching to the White House to demand that President Biden take bold action to follow through with his promises to End the Era of Fossil Fuels! The full march is about 1 mile and we will be stopping to make some noise and hold a brief program on Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the White House

3pm - Earth Day Organizing Fair

This year’s Earth Day mobilization will be a powerful moment, we know that this is only the beginning. Join us for an organizing fair in Freedom Plaza, from 3-5pm on April 22nd to get connected and make plans to continue the work going forward. Organizational partners are making plans to hold climate cafe’s, participatory art projects, teach-ins, dance parties and other activities. 
 

FRIDAY, APRIL 14TH AT 12 NOON

EDWARD R MURROW PARK (IN FRONT OF THE WORLD BANK AT PENNSYLVANIA AVE & 18TH ST NW)

Join the Big Shift Global Coalition, urgewald, DC groups and many other partners for a rally. Hear speakers from around the world outlining how the World Bank needs to change for the better. We are calling on the World Bank Group for action on climate, ending fossil fuel finance, a just green transition, debt cancellation, ending austerity, factory farming and biodiversity! We hope to see you there!

WORLD BANK: DECOLONIZE

STOP FUNDING COAL, OIL AND GAS

Since the Paris climate accords in 2015, the World Bank has proved $12 billion in financing fossil fuel projects. Join on the opening day of the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank to disrupt business as usual for the IMF and World Bank. We’ll snake through the streets of Foggy Bottom during rush hour traffic, as the finance ministers work to make their way to their dinner parties and back room meetings.

Meet at 6pm at Edward R. Murrow Park (H St. and 18th St NW). Ride rolls at 6:30pm SHARP.

Ride your bike, wear a helmet and bring a sign or noisemaker! 

Don’t have a bicycle? Rent a bike from DC Capitol Bike Share right in Edward R. Murrow Park!

As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meet in Washington DC from October 10-16, join a coalition of intersectional organizations & activists to disrupt their meetings, in solidarity with climate & social justice movements all over the world protesting during these meetings.

Join our planning meetings every Wednesday at 7pm to help plan this creative disruption.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Join Fridays for Future for the Global Climate Strike!

ON SEPTEMBER 23RD, WE WILL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE REPARATIONS AND JUSTICE! We demand that our Governments listen to MAPA voices by providing Loss & Damage Finance to the communities most affected by the climate crisis. Find out more: http://fridaysforfuture.org/September23 #PeopleNotProfit

Frontline communities in Appalachia – and across the country – are being used as bargaining chips in a Manchin/Schumer side deal aimed at ramping up fossil fuel projects. This is unacceptable. But let it be known, the resistance is organized and ready to bring the fight to DC!

Join frontline leaders in a rally on Sept 8th outside the Capitol to demand that U.S. Senators and Representatives stop Manchin’s dirty deal. If you are an Appalachian impacted by the climate crisis or a member of a frontline community impacted by fossil fuels please indicate your interest to attend meetings with Congress in the RSVP form.

If passed, this would gut bedrock environmental protections, threaten tribal authority, endanger public health, fast-track fossil fuel projects, cut public input and push approval for Manchin’s pet project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline. We can’t allow communities to be sacrificed to more oil and gas drilling, pipelines, petrochemical buildout and climate disasters! Join us on Sept 8th by making our voices clear: 'We are not your sacrifice zones! #StopMVP and Manchin’s dirty deal!'

** note: ASL and Spanish translation will be made available, the location will be ADA accessible

** buses are available from Durham, NC and Christiansburg, VA. For more info and to reserve your seat, RSVP on this page or visit https://peoplevsfossilfuels.org/sept8/

As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meet in Washington DC from October 10-16, join a coalition of intersectional organizations & activists to disrupt their meetings on October 14, in solidarity with climate & social justice movements all over the world protesting during these meetings.

For decades, the IMF and World Bank have imposed a massive amount of debt on the Global South, benefitting multinational corporations while exploiting the majority of people in the Global South. This debt burden is impeding countries' abilities to address public health crises like COVID-19 and the climate crisis, while Global North countries and institutions like the World Bank and IMF continue to invest in and use exorbitant amounts of fossil fuels, the primary cause of the climate crisis.

This neo-colonialism must end! Join our planning meetings every Wednesday at 7pm starting this week to help plan this creative disruption: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkdu6opjwoH9y8rrG6qMukdtlOxFdBTCjx

As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meet in Washington DC from October 10-16, join a coalition of intersectional organizations & activists to disrupt their meetings on October 14, in solidarity with climate & social justice movements all over the world protesting during these meetings.

For decades, the IMF and World Bank have imposed a massive amount of debt on the Global South, benefitting multinational corporations while exploiting the majority of people in the Global South. This debt burden is impeding countries' abilities to address public health crises like COVID-19 and the climate crisis, while Global North countries and institutions like the World Bank and IMF continue to invest in and use exorbitant amounts of fossil fuels, the primary cause of the climate crisis.

This neo-colonialism must end! Join our planning meetings every Wednesday at 7pm starting this week to help plan this creative disruption: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkdu6opjwoH9y8rrG6qMukdtlOxFdBTCjx

Tell Trump’s Lawyers:

Stop the Attack on Democracy!

Over the last several days, Donald Trump and his allies have doubled down on their false claims that Trump won the election – and they are continuing to undermine democracy by giving credence to absurd conspiracy theories and impeding the future Biden administration. 

But they’re not alone in this exercise. They’re getting support from two law firms – King & Spalding and Porter Wright – that are helping to litigate Trump’s groundless claims. These firms are complicit in helping Trump bully and cheat in his desperate effort to take votes away from Black, Indigenous, and brown people in this country. These lawyers took an oath in support of the Constitution, but now they are violating it with these unethical actions. 

FRIDAY: Join us for a day of action against King & Spalding and Porter Wright Morris & Arthur. 

In DC, we’ll be paying them both a visit. We are assembling at Black Lives Matter Plaza (at 16th and H NW) at noon. Let us know you’re coming.  

From coast to coast, the people are continuing to make their voices heard. This is just the beginning of what we have planned to hold Trump and his enablers accountable. Last week, activists in San Francisco painted a mural in front of another law firm that has worked with the Trump campaign, Jones Day, and friends in New York are also taking action on Friday. In addition to visiting the offices of these firms, we will be making phone calls and sending emails as part of a national campaign demanding that they defend democracy by dropping Trump as a client and ending the frivolous lawsuits. 

We know from media sources that these law firms are feeling the heat, and we think we can push them to drop Trump. But it’s going to take a multifaceted, multi-city effort, both in person and online.

Let us know if you’re coming in person on Friday and whether you will participate in the phone and email campaign (details coming soon).

Organizing Meeting and Spokes Council

It’s official. Trump lost. 

All of the major news organizations - including Fox News - have called the election and Joe Biden has been elected 46th President of the United States. Biden is not only ahead by more than 4 million votes in the popular vote, he has also secured a clear majority of votes in the electoral college.

We should all take a minute to celebrate (we hear there’s a great party going on at BLM Plaza!), catch our breath and thank the thousands of people who put in long hours knocking on doors, making phone calls, sending text messages and having hard conversations with neighbors and family members to make this possible. 

But in the coming days things are likely to get very hard. Donald Trump isn’t conceding. His campaign says this is “far from over” and that he’s not conceding, he’s been tweeting baseless accusations about voter fraud and his campaign is mobilizing supporters to disrupt vote counts at “Stop the Steal” rallies.

We knew that even after the votes were counted, we would need to be in the streets to defend democracy. Politicians can say and tweet what they want, but at the end of the day it’s the people who should have the final say. That’s why we started this phase of the election season in the streets on Tuesday night and that’s why we’ve been in the streets every day since. 

We are going to learn a whole lot more about how Trump is going to respond to his decisive defeat in the coming hours and days. So this weekend, let’s celebrate. Then on Monday, let’s organize! 

Join us on Monday, November 9 at 7pm for our next open organizing meeting and spokes council! We’ll debrief all of the incredible work that everyone has done over the past few days, take stock of the political situation that we’re in, and plan our next steps as we come together to defend democracy! 

This meeting will be entirely online. Register here for your dial-in information.

Let the People Decide

Election day has come and gone. Mail-in ballots are still being counted. Already lawsuits are being filed to stop the count and to challenge our Democracy. We demand ballots be counted. Let the people decide. Join us on Friday, November 6th at 1130AM at McPherson Square (15th and K Streets NW).

We will raise our voices, dance, spread joy and remind ourselves that we are the ones that we've been waiting for. GoGo music, the People's Dancers and you.

Bring family and friends. Wear a mask. If you have one, wear your Count the Votes T-shirt.

See you there, let's step into our power together.

Sign up below or text DEMOCRACY to 88202 to get updates on actions and events!

What NOW!?!? Organizing Meeting and Spokes Council

If you’re reading this now you probably have no idea what the world is going to look like after November 3rd. Maybe Trump has conceded and we’ll be planning a big victory party? Maybe we’ll be fighting back a full on coup? Most likely we’ll be facing an uncertain outcome.

We know we need to start the next phase of the election season in the streets, but as we learn how the election and vote count is playing out we’re going to need to make important decisions about what comes next.

Join us for a Spokes Council and Organizing Meeting on Wednesday, November 4.

If you haven’t been to a know your rights training yet, join us at 6pm. Then at 7pm we’ll start the spokes council and open meeting.

This meeting will be happening in person in McPherson Square AND online. Whether you’re planning on joining us in person or online, make sure to register below

Shut Down the Attack on Democracy

The polls have closed and record numbers of voters have cast their ballots in this election. Now it’s time to make sure that every single vote is counted, so we can preserve the pillars of democracy and build the future we want to live in.

In the coming days we’re going to keep showing up and keep supporting each other until the people swear in the new government. On November 4, we’re going to put the media, the party establishments, and the big donors on notice - we’re committed to defending democracy.

Meet at 11am at Union Station OR at Black Lives Matter Plaza (go to which ever one is most convenient for you and your affinity group!). After some short introductions we’ll step off to deliver a dose of democracy to some powerful institutions in Washington, DC.

Can you join us? Fill out the form below to let us know you’re coming and how you want to plug in!

*The start time is subject to change so please sign up for text messages from ShutDownDC by texting DEMOCRACY to 88202.

De-escalation and Care Bear Training with the DMV De-escalation Collective

Care Bears & De-Escalators are crucial roles not only for increasing safety at protests, but for our vision of collective liberation. Care Bears help look out for the safety of the people around them by providing water & food and helping direct people to resources they need, while de-escalators step into tense situations to create moments of calm in which people can make choices to resolve conflicts and increase safety.

This training will provide tools for navigating stressful situations, introduce the skills Care Bears and De-escalators use, and help participants understand their risk tolerance & communicate their boundaries so they can go into protests with confidence in themselves and their community.

Register HERE

Shut Down DC Organizing Meeting and Spokes Council

Election day is just a few days away and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The Trump administration is working to intimidate people at the polls, stop the counting of mail in ballots and steal the election. We’re ready to do whatever it takes to defend democracy!

If this is your first meeting, join us at 3pm and we’ll bring you up to speed on our organizing process and how to plug into this space. Then at 4pm we’ll jump into the meeting, picking up where we left off last week.  

This is our last Thursday meeting before the election. This week we’re going to finalize plans for actions on November 4 (Shut Down the Attack on the Election), November 5 (Shut Down the White House), and November 6 (Shut Down DC).

This meeting will be taking place online AND in person in Black Lives Matter Plaza. Register here:

A good rebel is a trained rebel. In order to get prepared for what is looming, XRDC is organizing a blockade training on Saturday, October 31st at Malcolm X/Meridian Hill Park. Yes, we know it is Halloween, but our real fear is what is going to happen after the election. And we want to be ready for what the situation calls for! So we designed a direct action training to accompany the many Street Smarts 101 trainings currently being offered by Shutdown DC (SDDC).

So there it is, on Saturday October 31st, as you transform into Endora, Frankenstein or Beelzebub, you have a chance to learn coordinated road-blocking with us. We will share our knowledge and experience with proven road-blocking tactics. The training will cover why we choose non-violent direct action, an overview of key roles, and how the roles interact to create highly efficient disrupting teams. At the end, we will assign roles and practice taking an actual road next to the park. Come in your best Halloween costume, we will see if it is good enough to stop the traffic.

RSVP to join us and we'll send you all the details.

A more general Street Smarts 101 training by SDDC will take place just before on the same location, go to https://www.shutdowndc.org/calendar for more info. So show up at 12 PM and learn non violent direct action 101, then join the group at 2:30 PM and become an expert in blockade. Now you are scary!