Which Blockade Are YOU Going to Join!?
As 2021 comes to a close the timeline for passing the programs that our communities need is rapidly waning. We need action on healthcare, racial justice, workers rights, climate justice, and voting rights. But for too much of the Washington, DC establishment, it’s still business as usual with polite lunch meetings, press conferences, and inaction while ‘negotiations’ play out. If we want to win the breakthroughs we need in this moment, we need to disrupt business as usual and open up space for a new kind of politics.
On December 7, as Congress returns to the Capitol for the last week of the 2021 legislative calendar we’re going to take bold direct action to demand that Congress and the administration take action to pass the programs that they promised us and we voted for. We’re taking to the streets to shut down the back-room meetings and political theater that have failed to deliver the progress that our communities need.
We’ll start early in the morning at 7am, with street blockades surrounding the Capitol, each lifting up a program that matters to our community that our elected officials have failed to deliver on. Each one of the blockades is meeting up in a different part of Capitol Hill so sign up now to join a blockade group!
SPACES in Action is leading a blockade demanding investment in healthcare, childcare, and the care economy. They’ll have big games and a brass band!
Advocates for immigration reform are leading a blockade demanding immigration justice and citizenship! They have eleven massive “Green Cards” that they’ll be using to hold space - one for each million for the eleven million of our neighbors who are undocumented.
Arm in Arm and Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund are holding together a blockade calling for racial justice and climate justice, holding space and committing acts of disruptive humanitarianism.
Extinction Rebellion DC is holding down a blockade. We don’t know what they’ve got planned, but based on their most recent street blockades we’re pretty sure it’s going to be exciting.
Code Pink is holding down a blockade calling on elected leaders to divest from the war economy and invest in our communities. They always show up with some exciting props so you won’t want to miss what they’ve got planned.
Advocates for voting rights and statehood for DC will be holding down an intersection with a dance party headlined by a GoGo band on a 26’ flatbed truck!
Get Ready to Take Action!
We’re planning some bold direct action next week so if you want to learn more about organizing direct action, brush up your skills or just get involved, join us for a training weekend this weekend: December 4-5. We’ll cover the basics of organizing disruptive direct action, specific skills like assertive intervention, working as a police liaison, and making action art! It’s free and open to everyone but we do need to know how many people to expect so please Click here for more details or to register!
And finally, organizing bold actions like these takes resources. ShutDownDC is an all-volunteer project and we’re mostly funded by individual donations from supporters like you! If you’re able, please consider making a donation to support this important work.
Thanks for everything you do! See you in the streets!
#ShutDownDC!
