At 7AM a group of demonstrators gathered on the sidewalk near the parking lot of the recently opened Hobby Lobby in North Seattle to oppose the Supreme Court ruling that denies certain healthcare options for Hobby Lobby employees. The protestors were holding a 12 hour demonstration in front of the building as a small contingent of pro-Hobby Lobby supporters held signs proclaiming their love for the corporation. As vehicles passed, the reactions were mixed, but the majority of the passers by in support of those holding the Boycott Hobby Lobby signs. The numbers varied throughout the day, with the majority of demonstrators lining the streets before noon and from 4pm – 7pm. A group of high school students from nearby Ingraham H.S. decided to stop by on their lunch break after seeing the demonstrators on their way to school that morning. According to the students, they are members of the Humanitarian Society and are currently focusing on women’s rights issues. Some students may be organizing a protest of their own against Hobby Lobby on Monday, October 6th.

From the Boycott Hobby Lobby pamphlet…

Why Boycott Hobby Lobby?

– The only person who should make decisions about your healthcare is you. Not your employer.

– We are here to raie awareness and help everyone understand their rights, and more importantly how those rights are being threatened.

– We are here to encourage our neighbors to spend their money elsewhere.

What did Hobby Lobby Do?

– Earlier this year, the owners of Hobby Lobby went to the Supreme Court seeking exemption from covering certain contraception options for their female employees.

– The result of this ruling denies certain healthcare options for Hobby Lobby employees, and puts every American citizen at risk of being subject to not only healthcare restrictions but employment discrimination of all kinds, now and in the future.

How does this affect me?

– An employer, now or in the future, has an open door to potentially restrict or deny the healthcare options you might choose for you and your family. We don’t think that’s right.”

A warm day in New York City brought 400,000 people together across social, economic, racial, gender, age, and ability divisions for a massive march through Manhattan. The purpose was to once again draw attention to changing climate and to show world leaders attending the UN climate summit that their citizens are expecting action to prevent a climate catastrophe. The vast array of signs and banners gives a fractional representation of the wide spectrum of humanity attending the event.

From the http://www.peoplesclimate.org website…

“To Change Everything, We Need Everyone.

More than a hundred protestors held a rally outside the Yesler Community Center on Wednesday, September 17th to fight back against SHA’s proposed housing cuts. City Council Members Nick Licata and Kshama Sawant were on hand to speak and state legislature candidate Jess Spear appeared to stand in solidarity with those facing evictions from their low income housing.

From the event Facebook page…

“The Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) want to push “work-able” tenants out of their housing by increasing tenants’ rents over six years with a proposed rent policy called Stepping Forward. This harmful policy will only lead to evictions and displacement of Seattle’s most marginalized residents.

Join SHA tenants as they defend their right to housing!

After the rally & press conference, please stick around for the public hearing on Stepping Forward at 6pm. For more information about the TU’s campaign to stop Stepping Forward, visit http://stopsha.wordpress.com/”

In an event reminiscent of the march from SeaTac to Seattle, workers, union members, and community activists rallied at the McDonalds on Madison. Malcom Cooper Suggs, a McDonalds worker spoke on $15 an hour, “$15 an hour has the ability to alleviate that struggle from us, and not just that, but bring back some of the dignity and respect we deserve as people, because we are people. Too often we are just seen as workers, we have on these uniforms, we look exactly the same. They think that we are one with the company. That’s all they see, people who flip burgers and take orders. At the end of the day, when we clock out, we are all people. I think that’s true for anybody who does their job. This cameraman isn’t a cameraman no more after he clocks out, hes a regular person. We deserve our dignity and I think that comes with a living wage.”

After a few more words, the demonstrators marched through Seattle to the I-90 bridge via the East Portal Viewpoint Park. As the hundred or so demonstrators moved across the bridge on the sidewalk, they made room for bikers  by staying to one side. Vehicle traffic on I-90 headed West came to a predictable crawl as drivers strained to read signs as they passed. Some car drivers honked in support while others held fists of solidarity as they drove by.

The march across I-90 was accompanied by a small boat on Lake Washington, carrying people holding signs and using air horns.

Further actions are planned throughout the day and you can find more information here…

http://www.workingwa.org/2014/09/09/wednesday-tomorrow-local-fast-food-workers-declare-i-now-wa-rally-risk-arrest/

On a warm sunny day at the Daybreak Star Indian Center, hundreds of people gathered for a “ceremonial launch of the Nawt-sa-maat Alliance” and salmon dinner with views of the Salish Sea. Attendees listened to speakers, spiritual leaders gave blessings, and people danced and sang in unity of their common desire to protect the environment.

More information can be found here…

http://www.protectthesacred.org/

From the website

“This coming Sunday marks the ceremonial launch of the Nawt-sa-maat Alliance: a coalition of Coast Salish Nations, environmental, interfaith, and youth activists, and impassioned community members who love the land and waters of the Salish Sea and call it home.

Nawt-sa-maat is a Coast Salish word that can translate to “One House. One Heart. One Prayer. United in power to Protect the Sacred.” The Alliance is calling for unprecedented, unified action to protect and restore the Salish Sea and its communities from the fossil fuel projects that threaten the region. The gathering takes place on Sunday, September 7th at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center and includes a Ceremony and a Salmon Bake to launch and strengthen the extraordinary collective work taking place in the region. The gathering will be an opportunity to learn about and join the Nawt-sa-maat Alliance, bring diverse groups of people from around the region together, and plug into a growing network of people and organizations who stand in unity to protect the Salish Sea.

All members of the Human Family are invited and warmly welcome to take part!”

Indigenous people from around the Seattle area gathered with community activists to rally for the signing of Resolution 31538 outside of Seattle City Council. Resolution 31538 states “Relating to Indigenous Peoples’ Day; declaring the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the City of Seattle; encouraging other institutions to recognize the Day; and reaffirming the City’s commitment to promote the well being and growth of Seattle’s American Indian and Indigenous community.”

Members of the Sacred Water Canoe Family drummed, activists spoke and sang, and even Mayor Murray made an appearance, showing his support and mentioning a signing on Columbus Day, October 12th, officially announcing the change to Indigenous Peoples Day.

Seattle City Council member Bruce Harrell suggests that one media camera (ignoring the 5 other photographers in the room) was not enough to sign Res. 31538 and agreed with Mayor Murray that it would be better to sign the resolution on Columbus Day, ignoring those who traveled to see it signed today. Kshama Sawant was the one council member to question pushing back the signing of Res. 31538.

Friday August 29th, 2014

Hundreds of activists and leaders from all corners of the community gathered outside the doors of St. Marks Cathedral in Seattle’s Capitol Hill before moving indoors for a totem pole blessing ceremony.

From the event press release… “…The cornerstone of Northwest Native American art, the totem pole, became a cross-cultural rallying point this morning, as a large crowd welcomed the 19-foot totem to Saint Mark’s Cathedral. The event marks the halfway point of a 2,500-mile binational journey by members of the Lummi Nation to demonstrate the strength and diversity of opposition to a proposal by Gateway Pacific Terminals that would locate North America’s largest coal terminal at Xwe’chi’eXen, the Lummi name for Cherry Point, near Bellingham…The Seattle event featured remarks from King County Executive Down Constantine and a welcome by Ken Workman of the Duwamish Tribe in Lushootseed, the language of the Salish people. All in attendance were invited to join in blessing the 19-foot Western Red Cedar totem pole.

The unusual juxtaposition of a totem and Christian church results from an unprecedented alliance between tribal nations and faith leaders around coal exports. Recently, 10 of Washington’s bishops and denominational executives signed a formal letter of support for the Lummi’s totem pole journey…”

Activists and community members spent hours in the sun preventing workers from entering the Port of Seattle to unload the Zim container ship, Chicago. Police eventually moved protestors back to the sidewalks to allow vehicles to pass, although demonstrators were moving in and out of traffic, once bicycle demonstrator was knocked to the ground by SPD and arrested while he was riding between the cars. The crowd was thinning at 6pm as demonstrators held a meeting to discuss future action.

From the Block The Boat Northwest website…

“

END THE SIEGE ON GAZA!

BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS!

END U.S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAELI SETTLER-COLONIALIST GENOCIDE AND OCCUPATION!

When the “Zim Chicago” enters the Port of Tacoma on (estimated) August 22nd and the Port of Seattle on (estimated) August 25, we will conduct blockades to prevent the unloading of its cargo, starting early and lasting all day. Estimated dates of arrival are subject to change, and we will continue to give accurate updates on this website. We will also give exact meeting places for the actions in the coming days. Keep checking!

These actions are economic sanctions against Zim Shipping, Israel’s largest shipping company, in response to the current siege of Gaza and the ongoing occupation of Palestine. Any international commerce that profits Israeli companies is oppressing Palestinians. Israel could not continue its occupation and genocide without economic and military support of the United States government. To help end this oppression we must block that support in every way we can.

The toll of “Operation Protective Edge” is almost 1,900 Gazans killed (nearly all civilians), 31% of them children, and almost 10,000 injured. We must act in solidarity with those in Palestine who live under occupation and are facing down genocide. Let’s refuse to let Israeli ships use our ports! Blockade til they go away! Oakland, CA will block a Zim ship on August 16th. In Seattle we shut down the Port for a day in December of 2011 — we can do it again and again. Blockades can and must happen everywhere there is a port, as a contribution to the goal of the complete collapse of the economic base of Israeli occupation.

We can’t do this without your presence! Everyone is welcome, young and old. Bring banners, flags, flyers, sound systems, musical instruments, and your friends. If you can’t blockade, you can participate in the supporting rallies — the more people there, the safer we’ll all be.

Comments, questions, or suggestions? Want to work together? Contact blocktheboatnw@gmail.com. This website will continue to be updated.”

Demonstrators gathered at Westlake Park to rally in solidarity with Ferguson, MO and others affected by police brutality. The rally soon led to a march down the sidewalk on Pine to 3rd Ave. As the 100+ activists and protestors crossed 4th Ave on their way up Pike St., they abandoned the sidewalk to march in the street. Protestors marched to 12th Ave, followed by SPD bicycle units, where they gathered in front of the East Precinct of the Seattle Police Department chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “Being black is not a crime”. After less than 30 minutes of blocking the South bound lane of 12th Ave in front of the police station, demonstrators marched down Pine and back to Westlake Park.

A few dozen demonstrators marched outside of the Jackson Federal Building in Seattle to protest the illegal detention of Nestora Salgado, a naturalized U.S. citizen and leader of an indigenous community defense force (Salgado was raised in Olinala, Guerrero, Mexico).

From the Facebook Event Page…

“Nestora Salgado is an indigenous leader, a naturalized U.S. citizen and political prisoner in Mexico. She was seized without an arrest warrant by Mexican federal soldiers last August and as a result of her leadership role in community policing against organized crime, which has swept through the indigenous communities of the state of Guerrero over the last several years. For 12 months, she has been denied the right to see her lawyers. Orders to free her by a federal judge have been ignored. Kept in isolation without medical attention, she represents hundreds of people in self defense groups who have been jailed for defending their communities against powerful, politically connected criminal cartels. In Guerrero, indigenous people have the constitutional right to form such forces; they have been emulated in other states and communities by Mexicans who consider it a necessity for self-preservation and dignity.

And Nestora isn’t the only one. In June, the Mexican government expanded its occupation and repression in Michoacán, arresting Dr. José Mireles and nearly 100 of his followers. They were on their way to regain public control of Lázaro Cárdenas port, the largest seaport in Mexico, from a drug cartel known as the Knights Templar. This criminal syndicate used the port to export goods and resources stolen from the people of the region. Today Nestora Salgado and Dr. José Mireles are powerful symbols of popular resistance against Mexican government corruption and unbridled crime. As U.S. military aid to Mexico increases, the violence continues.

Rally endorsed by Yo Soy 132 NY, Freedom Socialist Party, Radical Women,, La Zenka and Associated Indigenous Movements

www.freenestora.org

For more info or to endorse, call 917-714-6453“