Occupy Pitt Divestment Movement
The first of many articles to raise public consciousness in the Greater Pittsburgh area and stop the fascist slide into ecocide.
The following story is published for Rust Belt Revolution. Please support the Greater Pittsburgh area in our ground zero struggle for human survival.
The skies were clear on Sunday, March 1. After a week of gray clouds and rain mixed with snow, the bright sunlight inspired me to take a long walk. As a writer and an activist, I find it best to observe the world directly to evaluate ongoing issues, learn about new issues, and gauge the public’s mood. On that afternoon, I wanted to check in on the Pitt Fossil Fuel Divestment movement in the lobby of the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.
Learn more about the struggle on Twitter, @FossilFreePitt.
When I arrived at the Cathedral, I found a handful of student activists holding the space on a rather slow Sunday. Say what you will about the chaos of fast-paced actions, but Occupy movements aren’t quick hits, they’re long moral struggles. When such movements address climate issues, the activists literally fight for the future of human existence.
Two environmental students were kind enough to brief me with an update. They both spoke with a youthful passion that reminded me the world really does need more brilliant, empathetic voices on the side of the angels. Fully aware of Pitt’s critical investment in fracking, the students believe if their movement can disrupt the school’s administration long enough, they might be able to sway public opinion against the university. To accomplish such a goal, the local media absolutely must educate its readers and viewers on the ecocide currently unfolding. Unfortunately, there’s little evidence of such journalism.
Pitt’s stubborn position to hold their fracking investments while claiming to go carbon neutral by 2037 simply isn’t logical according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The scientific community has clearly stated the planet has 10 years to dial down carbon and methane emissions if we want to save organized human life. The good news is, if the student movement can force the university’s hand to divest, there’s a good chance the the fracking industry and other connected industries would take a huge financial hit. That could possibly give progressive state and federal legislators an excuse to push for cleaner energy manufacturing found in the Green New Deal.
As a longtime communications professional, I can confidently state there’s no one day or one moment that can force the levers of power. It’s only when uprisings occur over and over by a growing and informed movement that fear can be driven into the ruling class. Power’s response is always the same. First, villains in suits ignore movements, then they deliver violence upon its activists. Eventually, after enough blood is spilled, power shifts from rage to appeasement.
The students I met were more than willing to be a few of the many cogs in the machinery of Revolution. I thanked them for their efforts and then snapped the attached photo. If you have the chance to help them hold their space or drop off some food, please do so. You’ll meet wonderful people of substance and you’ll be doing good work in a suffering world.
Note to Readers: The Greater Pittsburgh area is ground zero in the nationwide struggle to stop the fascist slide into ecocide. I’ve developed a grassroots platform titled Rust Belt Revolution to take on the long fight for environmental, labor, and civil justice. We must raise public consciousness and apply pressure to political and corporate actors to end fracking and usher in the American renaissance of union manufacturing under the Green New Deal. Your support is absolutely required.
Join this fight for popular democracy, for the many, not the few. ▶︎ https://www.patreon.com/RustBeltRevolution
Solidarity forever!
