Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow. ~ ALICE M. SWAIM

Dear friends,

You’ve probably heard us talking up the release of our new book, Re:Imagining Change – How to Use Story-Based Strategies to Win Campaigns, Build Movements, and Change the World. We’re pretty psyched about the response we’re getting…

After the BP oil disaster (and subsequent PR blitz), our email box lit up with requests from the Gulf Coast to ship books to Louisiana for an organizers meeting.

As the nation’s attention turned to the racist anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona, we were boxing up books for activists offering training on the front lines in Phoenix.

After our book launch in New York City, one activist was so inspired he brought his new copy to a local environmental organizing meeting, but someone else got there first, and was already holding up a copy of the book, imploring the group to read it and firing off ideas for how they could use it to take effective action.

This is why we wrote Re:Imagining Change, and this is why we need your contribution this season.

In fact, we’ve already sold out of the first printing of the book, published by PM Press in April. With your support, smartMeme’s vision of spreading tools and inspiration for grassroots action is coming to fruition. We’ve been coast-to-coast offering training and collaborating with like-minded groups to build a stronger progressive narrative and develop media strategy across our movements.

Nevertheless, it is a dangerous and distracting time. We all know that the Tea Party doesn’t really represent the views of very many people, but they have something even more powerful than all that corporate cash — they have a powerful story! The right wing has hijacked populist anger at Wall Street bankers and is using it to sell the same old fear-mongering, race-baiting ideology.

So how can we tell a better story of ecological justice, community transformation, reconciliation and reform?

That’s why we founded smartMeme. Powerful storytelling is the rocket fuel of movement building. Grassroots activists need the skills to not only tell their stories but also to challenge the existing stories of fear, domination and greed. We’ve trained nearly 4,000 grassroots activists and partnered with over 100 organizations fighting for peace, social justice and the environment to design story-based strategies and win framing fights that matter. But the fight is far from over.

Your donation can write the next chapter of story-based strategy.

SmartMeme is offering ideas and innovation for 21^st century social change, and building stronger movements that can tell smarter stories. We do it for cents on the dollar of the corporate PR machines we fight with the generous contributions from our community of donors like you. With foundation support waning in the wake of the recession, we need your contribution now more than ever.

As you read this, we’re working on the front lines of the movement for climate justice, helping amplify the voices of grassroots leaders at the COP 16 talks in Cancun, Mexico and continuing to build momentum for the rights of Mother Earth.

With your support, we will convene the first ever “smartMeme Academy” in 2011 – an intensive training for a new generation of leaders who can carry smartMeme’s story-based strategy tools for framing back to the communities and movements who need it most.

Our goal is to raise $20,000 this holiday season. Will you chip in $500, $250, $100 or $50? Whatever amount you can give will directly support critical campaigns, training grassroots leaders, and wide-scale distribution of Re:Imagining Change. Your donation is an essential contribution to build the movement for ecological justice and progressive social change.

The demand for smartMeme’s tools and training is growing everyday: building the grassroots climate movement, fighting for migrant’s rights, challenging corporate dominance and supporting community resilience. Our modest operations can hardly keep pace with the demand for what we do. Only with your support can smartMeme continue to be a one-of-a-kind resource for progressive change makers.

Please, make a generous gift today to support smartMeme’s important mission, and change the story for a better future.

Thank you.

Onward,

Doyle Canning & Patrick Reinsborough, smartMeme Co-Directors

PS: Still haven’t got your copy of Re:Imagining Change? A holiday contribution of $50 or more gets you two signed copies: a gift for you, and one to give away!

But Climate Justice is Coming to the Capitol!

On February 16th the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their latest reports. They basically said, ‘Well, its even worse than we thought…’

“The world is warming far more quickly than scientists forecast just two years ago..[because of] the unexpectedly rapid increase in the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal, since 2000. “We are looking now at a future climate that’s beyond anything we’ve considered seriously in climate model simulations,’”
- The Financial Times, February 17th 2009

We know the climate is in crisis, and we know we must act. We know that the next 50 generations are counting on us. And we know that clean coal is an industry-crafted control meme - a myth we must dispel if we are to make any progress towards climate justice.

That’s why we invite you to join us on March 2, 2009 for the historic Mass Nonviolent Civil Disobedience at the coal-fired capitol power plant in Washington, DC.

On March 2, join smartMeme and thousands more in a multi-generational act of civil disobedience at the Capitol Power Plant - a plant that powers Congress with dirty energy and symbolizes a past that cannot be our future. Let’s use this action as a rallying cry for a clean energy economy that will protect the health of our families, our climate, and our future.

This will be the largest nonviolent direct action to stop global warming ever. It will be a peaceful demonstration, carried out in a spirit of hope, in keeping with the spirit of this political moment. We will be there lookin’ fly in our dress clothes, and ask the same of you.

In our guts, we know the fight for climate justice is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and that is going to take tremendous courage and political risk. It’s time to take a stand on global warming. We can’t wait any longer for the changes we know we can, and must, make today.

With a new administration and a new Congress, we have a window of opportunity. But we have to open it - together.

• RSVP for the Action
• Attend a nonviolence training in your area
• Join us on Facebook

See you in the streets!

P.S: Why are we inspired to be part of this action? Read our discussion of the ecological crisis in the “Afterword - A Call to Innovation,” which invites activists to reimagine our strategies in the face of a rapidly changing, warming world.

“There are moments in a nation’s-and a planet’s-history when it may be necessary for some to break the law in order to bear witness to an evil, bring it to wider attention, and push for its correction. We think such a time has arrived…The industry claim that there is something called “clean coal” is, put simply, a lie. But it’s a lie told with tens of millions of dollars, which we do not have. We have our bodies, and we are willing to use them to make our point.”

~ Bill McKibben & Wendell Berry’s invitation to the Capitol Climate Action

[* Read Our Holiday Letter in PDF Format *]

To Our friends, family, and community,

Wow, what a year! 2008 showed us that the story of what is possible for our country can change.

Outdated stories were shattered: the story of racial inferiority, the story of market fundamentalism, the story that young people don’t participate. Obama’s campaign proved the power of a hopeful new story to drive progressive political change.

Now is a moment when grassroots leaders can seize the day to change the story and change the world. The cultural currents are ripe. America is ready to shatter old assumptions and embrace new ideas. Are you?

This is one of the most important political moments of our lifetime, and with your support smartMeme is ready to lead. Our mission of holistic social change and our model of story-based strategy have never been more urgent, but we need your generous donation now more than ever.

We’ve got gifted people, a diverse network, the right programs, and the right ideas. We are celebrating the long-awaited release of Re:Imagining Change, our new activist guide to storytelling strategies. We are toasting a year chock full of successful smartMeme interventions that:

• Called for Economic Justice and a Green New Deal for Main Street. SmartMeme convened a rapid response story-based strategy session on the Wall Street meltdown and the bank bailout.

• Protected Water from Privatization. SmartMeme helped a community at the base of Mt. Shasta safeguard one of the country’s most important watersheds from Nestlé’s water profiteering, and halt construction of (what was to be) the largest water bottling plant in the US.

• Built the Peace Movement Inside the Military. SmartMeme partnered with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) to support Winter Solider: Iraq & Afghanistan – Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations, and earn international media coverage of the stories of young veterans. IVAW doubled their membership in 2008, and is poised to meet with the new Administration’s Veterans Affairs staff.
SmartMeme does not get funding from corporations, the government, or even large foundations. Because of the financial crisis, our already limited family-foundation funding has been cut by 60%. SmartMeme –along with the nation—is facing tough economic times. We are optimistic, totally committed, and ready to seize the promise of progressive change. But we must do it together, as a community.

We cannot let this political moment pass us by. Our goal is to raise $50,000 this holiday season. Please, make a bold gift today: $5000, $500, $100, $50…or a smaller amount each month as a smartMeme sustainer.

Ask your self, what is it worth to have smartMeme in the world? How much do you value our unique community of passionate innovators and savvy strategists? What would you give for a better future?

Together, we will not go back to the way things were– we will keep moving forward to meet the challenges of our time: war, global warming, economic crisis, social injustice. People power makes it possible. You make it possible.

The world needs new stories, needs smartMeme, and needs you.

Please join us now in making a generous gift to support smartMeme’s important mission, and change the story for a better future. Thank you for your support, and for all you do.

With Gratitude and Good Tidings of the Season,

Doyle Canning & Patrick Reinsborough

PS: Have you seen our new strategy manual and online video Re:Imagining Change?! Your donation will help us print this critical resource and get story-based strategy into the hands of activists across the country — You can download the doc and give secure online today: smartmeme.org/change

THANK YOU – AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Exciting news from the campaign to restore the Klamath river basin! Last week the campaign came one step closer to removing four of the destructive dams that have so negatively impacted the environment, economy and traditional cultures of the basin.

The owner of the dams — the PacifiCorp power company (a subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway corporation) — announced an Agreement in Principle (AIP) with the Federal government and the governments of California and Oregon to begin a process that would remove the dams by 2020.

The non-binding agreement is only a first step but it is being welcomed by diverse groups in the basin as a first step in the right direction towards what could be the largest dam removal in history. Read more about the Campaign: New York Times, National Geographic and the San Francisco Chronicle.

A joint statement from the Karuk, Yurok and Klamath tribes, the Klamath Water User’s Assosciation , the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Federations and several environmental groups said, “The signing of the AIP is welcome news to the Tribes, conservationists, commercial fishermen, farmers and ranchers who see dam removal as the missing element of the more comprehensive Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement released earlier this year.”

The federal government’s statement and the text of the Agreement in Principle can be found on the Department of the Interior’s website.

The campaign’s coalition building has allowed tribes, commercial fisherman and irrigators to move beyond fighting each other as the impacts of the crisis roll from community to community to uniting all stake holders to restore the basin. SmartMeme has been supporting this campaign since 2004 with strategy facilitation, messaging, advertising and design. We are honored to have helped these groups change the story in the basin from one of crisis and division towards a unified vision of a restored basin with intact cultures, economies and ecosystems.

SmartMeme offers our heart felt congratulations to all our friends and colleagues, both native and non-native, many of whom have worked for a lifetime to protect the river, maintain their cultural traditions and win environmental justice for their communities.

There is still lots of work to be done and no doubt the road ahead will be long. But this agreement will hopefully mark a turning point when PacifiCorp and the state and federal governments act responsibly and in good faith to restore the Klamath basin.

BRAVO to the Alliance - and VIVA SALMON NATION!

Nearly 10 years ago in late November 1999, over 50,000 activists from different movements around the world converged on Seattle to confront the World Trade Organization. We had come together to challenge the slickly packaged agenda of “free trade,” and the WTO’s effort to enshrine the power and profits of multinational corporations as the organizing principle of a new global order. The mass non-violent actions which shut down the opening day of the meeting (and the subsequent collapse of the Ministerial talks) marked a major milestone in the ongoing struggles for global justice, democracy, peace and ecological sanity.

Unfortunately the story of these historic actions has largely slipped out of public consciousness. But now there is a huge opportunity to revive the story of Seattle: the new feature length independent docu-drama called Battle in Seattle.

The movie is not perfect but its is clearly anti-WTO, pro-mass action, and with 9 minutes of archival footage interwoven it effectively recreates the street level action of Seattle. It is fast paced, exciting and has a sprinkling of stars (Woody Harrelson as a violent cop, Charlize Theron as his wife, Ray Liotta as Seattle’s mayor, and Andre 3000 as one of the core activists). The movie could not only help reclaim the legacy of Seattle but also spark broader conversation about corporate power, mass protest and the dynamics of how change is made. It needs to be widely seen!

However this movie can’t succeed on it own. The film is a small budget independent film, and it does NOT have big Hollywood money promoting it. The film is opening in 6 cities on September 19th and then opening in 10 more cities the following week. If — and ONLY if — it is commercially successful in those cities will it be released for mass distribution across the country. Essentially, in order for this movie to get widely seen it needs the support of progressive activists like you, and it needs it on those critical opening two weeks. So lets mobilize to get our friends and family out to see this movie and make it a hit! Buy your tickets now and spread the word!

ALSO Share Your Seattle Stories!

The upcoming release of the film has also sparked another very important initiative to create a broader, multi-facted people’s history of the Battle in Seattle. This web based project has put an invitation out to all Seattle WTO veterans to post your stories and analysis of what happened at www.realbattleinseattle.org. The site has lots of great resources and links so check it out and post your story!

We may have lost the Battle of the Story around Seattle’s legacy, but it’s never too late to reclaim our stories! Between helping get the movie widely seen, and participating in projects like the people’s history website, we can hopefully reclaim some of that story and introduce new generations of activists to the joys of taking mass direct action for a better world.

More links for those unfamiliar or curious about the history and significance of the Seattle WTO protests:

• The Big Noise Films documentary This is What Democracy Looks Like
• The anthology The Battle of Seattle: the New Challenges to Capitalist Globalization edited by Eddie Yuen, George Katsiaficas and Daniel Burton Rose
• SmartMeme’s Doyle Canning’s reflections on the Seattle actions can be found in the book Letters from Young Activists

Two great books that capture the legacy of Seattle and dispatches from the global movements against corporate power and exploitation are:

• We are Everywhere: the Irresistible Rise of Global Anticapitalism edited by the Notes from Nowhere Collective
• Globalize Liberation: How to Uproots the System and Build a Better World edited by David Solnit (and including several contributions from smartMeme’s Patrick Reinsborough)

Nearly 10 years ago in late November 1999, I was one of the over 50,000 activists from different movements around the world who converged on Seattle to confront the World Trade Organization. We had come together to challenge the slickly packaged agenda of “free trade,” and the WTO’s effort to enshrine the power and profits of multinational corporations as the organizing principle of a new global order. The mass non-violent actions which shut down the opening day of the meeting (and the subsequent collapse of the Ministerial talks) marked a major milestone in the ongoing struggles for global justice, democracy, peace and ecological sanity.

Last week I had the surreal experience of re-living the actions as I attended an advance screening of the new feature length independent docu-drama called Battle in Seattle:

Naturally, the movie is far from perfect. It contains some typical cheesy cliches (particularly around gender) and its focus on a few central characters distorts the reality that actions like Seattle grew out of mass participation, decentralized decision-making and the underlying energy of broad social movements.

Nonetheless, the movie was so much better than I had expected it to be. The film contains over 9 minutes of archival footage that seamlessly blends into the movie and effectively recreates the look and feel of the actions. The film is a powerful depiction of the actions and is clearly anti-WTO, pro-mass action and culminates with a montage of global resistance that serves as a inspiring call to action.

Popular culture representations of social change struggles present both the opportunity to reach a wider, uninitiated audience - and the dangers of cooptation and distortion. When it comes to Seattle, the sad truth is that our movements have lost the Battle of the Story over the WTO protests. Unfortunately, the essential history and significance of Seattle and the subsequent global justice actions has largely failed to enter U.S. mass consciousness. Shoddy corporate journalism mis-labeled the WTO actions a “riot,” and despite a brief period of sensationalistic media coverage, the reporting largely ignored the underlying clash of values and ideas between global solidarity and corporate globalization. After 9-11, the U.S. corporate media delivered numerous public obituaries for the U.S. wing of a global movement of movements they had never really reported on, and the legacy of Seattle faded into the never ending onslaught of tabloidized 24 hour news cycles and reality TV shows.

So in 2008, what does this mean for us? The movie is fast paced, exciting and has a sprinkling of stars (Woody Harrelson as a violent cop, Charlize Theron as his wife, Ray Liotta as Seattle’s mayor, and Andre 3000 as one of the core activists). The anti-WTO message is clear, but the movie prioritizes being “entertaining.” All of this means the movie could succeed in reaching mass audiences inside the United States. If this movie is widely seen, it could spark broader conversation about corporate power, mass protest and the dynamics of how change is made. Although the exact social impact of a movie is difficult to gauge, it can certainly help us reclaim the legacy of Seattle and channel that energy into ongoing work for change. But only if we mobilize behind it…

Upcoming Events by Eventful

As the director (Irish actor Stuart Townsend) made clear to those of us at the screening, this movie can’t succeed on it own. The film is a small budget independent film, and after a year of disappointing experiences with distributors they are self-releasing. It does NOT have big Hollywood money behind it and it’s set to open in only 4 cities for a one week run on September 19th and then open in 10 more cities the following week. If — and ONLY if — it is commercially successful in those cities will it be released for mass distribution across the country. Essentially, in order for this movie to get widely seen it needs the support of progressive activists like you, and it needs it on those critical opening two weeks.

The film’s very small promotions crew is actually led by a Seattle WTO veteran, Harold Linde, who is one of the activists who helped hang the Rainforest Action Network’s famous WTO vs. Democracy banner (which is the opening sequence of the film.) As Harold explained, one of the best things people can do to help this movie succeed is to demand that local theaters play it.

Request a showing in your local community!

Share Your Seattle Stories!

The upcoming release of the film has also sparked another very important initiative to create a broader, multi-facted people’s history of the Battle in Seattle. This web based project has put an invitation out to all Seattle WTO veterans to post your stories and analysis of what happened at www.realbattleinseattle.org. The site has lots of great resources and links so check it out and post your story!

We may have lost the Battle of the Story around Seattle’s legacy, but it’s never too late to reclaim our stories! Between helping get the movie widely seen, and participating in projects like the people’s history website, we can hopefully reclaim some of that story and introduce new generations of activists to the joys of taking mass direct action for a better world.

More links for those unfamiliar or curious about the history and significance of the Seattle WTO protests:

• The Big Noise Films documentary This is What Democracy Looks Like
• The anthology The Battle of Seattle: the New Challenges to Capitalist Globalization edited by Eddie Yuen, George Katsiaficas and Daniel Burton Rose
• SmartMeme’s Doyle Canning’s reflections on the Seattle actions can be found in the book Letters from Young Activists

Two great books that capture the legacy of Seattle and dispatches from the global movements against corporate power and exploitation are:

• We are Everywhere: the Irresistible Rise of Global Anticapitalism edited by the Notes from Nowhere Collective
• Globalize Liberation: How to Uproots the System and Build a Better World edited by David Solnit (and including several contributions from smartMeme’s Patrick Reinsborough)