[SustainableTompkins] Fire Up: Black Mesa and Peabody Coal Activism: Coming to your town!!

[Tony Del Plato]

Daniel:
Best wishes to you and the others going out to Big Mesa. Along with hundreds
of activists from around the world, I spent 3 months in the mid '80s
stopping the US govt from relocating Hopi & Navajo traditionalists from
their ancient homeland. Peabody was the bad guy then and obviously still is.
Please keep us posted on what happens while you're there. If the TCSustain
list is not the appropriate list to post your reports, I hope you'll use
other media. Lots of people in this area were very involved back then and
probably could be recruited for support again.
You're probably aware that there are moves to turn the San Francisco Peaks
into a ski resort & hi end condos. That struggle is going on right now.
Take care,
in solidarity
Tony Del Plato

On 9/11/06, Daniel Roth <dnr6 at cornell.edu> wrote:
>
>
> Please spread the word...
>
> Dan
>
> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: charles <charles at dianasgrove.com>
> Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 01:15:41 -0500
> To: charles <charles at dianasgrove.com>
> Subject: Back on the road
>
> Good evening Friends and Family
>
> I will be supporting the ongoing efforts at Black Mesa to stop Peabody
> Coal
> Company from destroying peoples homes and ancient sacred sights.
>
> I will be traveling with a group 9 activists who have dubbed ourselves
> FIRE
> UP!
>
> For the month of November we will be helping locals Navajos continue to
> live
> on the land. Our work will likely be a mix of repairing hogans, planting
> seeds and herding goats along interviewing folks and making a short
> documentary. Prior to and at the end of our time on the reservation we
> will
> be doing outreach and education in major cities around the US.
>
> To do all of this we are seeking donations. We estimate our costs will be
> around $3000 and would like to raise an additional $6000 to be given to
> local Navajo groups to continue resisting the destruction of Peabody Coal
> Company.
>
> A more comprehensive explanation of what we will be doing and how you can
> make a tax deductible donation to this important work is below.
>
> Thank you for your support!
>
> wild and free
> Charles williams
>
>
> ----
>
> Fire UP! Work Crew
> Support indigenous communities on Black Mesa, AZ.
> Fire Up! means to "Look Alive Out there", "show some spirit", git ta work,
> git goin', give it yer best effort, git on up and out there.
> Fire Up! Work Crew to Black Mesa is a team of 8-10 seasoned activists who
> have agreed to come together for the month of November to pool knowledge,
> experiences, stories, and effort toward supporting the resisters on Black
> Mesa.
> Fire Up! Goals:
> Education: To share information about indigenous struggles in the Black
> Mesa
> region. Including connecting the dots between Black Mesa and other dynamic
> struggles around the world.
> Action: Through physical labor we will support Navajo elders and families
> as
> they resist being driven from their ancestral homes.
> Media: We will document our efforts and create a short documentary
> summarizing the current situation on Black Mesa, to be used for outreach.
> Community Building: Both on Black Mesa and in route we will build
> understanding and alliances between individuals and organizations, in an
> attempt to strengthen the network of progressive thinkers and link related
> issues.
> Fundrasing: We will collect money to cover our expenses and donate to
> Black
> Mesa Indigenous Support (B.M.I.S.) to support those involved in the
> ongoing
> resistance to relocation.
>
> Who is ³THE FIRE UP! WORK CREW²
> We are all long time activists with a deep dedication to active engagement
> that creates social and environmental change. Though we have worked
> individual on many diverse projects we understand that all of our issues
> are
> rooted in the same system of oppression. Members of FIRE UP! have worked
> with groups such as: Common Ground Hurricane relief center in New Orleans,
> Reclaiming Pagan Cluster, PMS Media, Social Detox, Sri Lanka Tsunami
> support, Mountain Justice Summer mountaintop removal, Rising Tide, NYC
> Indy
> Media, Books through Bars, Guerilla Griots, Save the Peaks, Root Activist
> Network of Trainers, International Solidarity  Movement Israel/Palestine
> and
> many more.
>
> CALANDAR
> November 1-8:  Fire Up! Will traveling on a veggie oil powered Bus to
> Black
> Mesa, AZ
> Fire Up! Will stop in Ithaca, Chicago, Madison, Iowa City, St. Louis, and
> Santa Fe
> Each stop will include: News about indigenous and related issues, raising
> funds, gathering of tools, and collecting veggie oil to power the bus.
> November 9: - Flagstaff, AZ: orientation and supply stop
> November 10-24: WORK with local Dineh (Navajo) out on Black Mesa, AZ
> November 25-29: Travel south for more outreach!
> Fire Up! Will Tour Flagstaff, Prescott, Tempe, and Tucson, Education all
> along the way
> November 30: ­ Closing Circle
>
> We estimate this month of service to cost about $3000 and would like to
> raise an additional $6000 to support the continued resistance to Peabody
> Coal Company and unjust policies that force relocation of native people
> from
> ancestral homelands.
> If you are able and would like to support us financially you can
> Make checks to: Charles Williams
> HC 2 Box 109
> Bunker, MO 63629
>
> Or
>
> For a Tax deductible donation makes checks to:
>
> Alliance for Community Trainers
> 1405 Hillmont St.
> Austin, TX 78704
> With Fire Up! in the item line
>
> or
>
> Paypal (also Tax deductible) at
> http://rantcollective.com/article.php?id=29
> If you would like to donate tools there is a wish list attached at the
> bottom of this page.
> Thank you for your support.
> Fire up! out there,
> Wild and Free
> Charles and all the members of Fire Up!
> Brief History of Black Masa
> In the mid 70¹s Congress passed Public Law 93-531, which allowed Peabody
> Coal Company to gain access to Black Masa. As a result well over 14,000
> Dineh (Navajo) and a hundred-plus Hopi were forced from their ancestral
> homelands. Along with stealing this sacred land from the indigenous who
> have
> lived there for thousands of years, Peabody also stole their water. The
> mine
> uses over three million gallons a day, and 1.4 billion gallons a year of
> pristine, potable groundwater, to slurry coal. This gluttonous
> over-consumption of water has depleted the groundwater to such an extent
> that many local community wells have dried up. In an already dry region
> the
> loss of a well is a devastating and life-threatening event.
> Beyond the present threat to life of the native peoples, many of their
> cemeteries, their burial & sacred sites, religious structures and Anasazi
> ruins have been destroyed at Black Mesa to make way for coal mining.
> People
> are not only restricted from access to sacred sites, but many religious
> sites, burial grounds and homes stand threatened with destruction.
> The United Nations described this case of forced relocation as one of the
> most flagrant violations of indigenous peoples' human rights in this
> hemisphere. More importantly, this is the first time the United Nations
> ever
> formally investigated the United States for the violation of religious
> freedom.
> Wish List
> shovels, axes, hatchets, work gloves, warm socks made with wool or cotton,
> blankets in good condition made with natural fibers. nails, crow bar
> Black Mesa Indigenous Support www.blackmesais.org
> <http://www.blackmesais.org/>
> PMS Media  www.pmsmedia.org <http://www.pmsmedia.org/>
> Social detox http://socialdetox.blogspot.com
> <http://socialdetox.blogspot.com/>
> Save The Peaks www.savethepeaks.org <http://www.savethepeaks.org/>
> Rising Tide http://risingtide.org.uk <http://risingtide.org.uk/>
> Mountain Justice Summer www.mountainjusticesummer.org
> <http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org/>
> Guerrilla Griots www.guerrilla-griots.org <
> http://www.guerrilla-griots.org/>
> Books Through Bars www.booksthroughbars.org
> <http://www.booksthroughbars.org/>
> NYC Independent Media www.nyc.indymedia.org <http://www.nyc.indymedia.org/
> >
> Common Ground Katrina Relief www.commongroundrelief.org
> <http://www.commongroundrelief.org/>
> Alliance of Community Trainers  http://rantcollective.com/
> <http://www.rantcollective.org/>
>
>
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