We are in the final week of signature gathering to get social housing on the Seattle ballot.

Last weekend we collected nearly 4000 signatures over four days at the NW Folklife festival — a huge thank you to all who helped make this possible! Because of your help, we are closer to getting I-137 on the ballot, and closer to winning permanently affordable social housing for our communities.

Signatures are due the first week of June, so we’re in the final week of signature gathering to make the November ballot. Now more than ever, we need all hands on deck.

Can you sign up for a signature gathering event this week?

I-137 is not just a tax on big corporations, which honestly in itself is pretty great – it’s also a step towards creating a fairer and more just future for Seattle. A future in which everyone can live a dignified life in a beautiful low-carbon city that takes care of its communities. Social housing is a vision for a materially better life for all of us.

Join us! Energize the streets at this year’s SUMMER SOLSTICE PARADE! Rock lightning bolt and solar panel costumes as we light up Fremont with imagery celebrating our beautiful world and the renewable energy that preserves it. We need your smiling faces and energy to make this year’s parade a success.

Whether you can join us for one or two ART BUILDS (Sundays June 9th & 16th) and/or for PARADE (Saturday, June 22nd), we need you! Every bit of help makes a huge difference, and it’s so fun to get the message out this way together to tens of thousands of people attending parade!

More details here. Please take a minute to sign up so we can plug you in!

The Anti-War x Climate Collective (AWxCC) of 350 Seattle organizes at the intersection of the climate crisis and U.S. militarism. It’s about the U.S. military being the world’s biggest institutional consumer of fossil fuels and biggest institutional emitter of CO2. But it’s also about U.S. imperialism in the service of extractive companies, the supply chain, and a financial system that perpetuates violence and oppression. Come check out the AWxCC as we continue to get to know one another, educate ourselves collectively, and take part in local efforts in the climate-militarism intersection — like canceling the annual Blue Angels military airshow (see below).

We’re beginning a monthly meeting over Zoom or Jitsi: third Wednesdays, 5-6pm. Get in touch with Mary to join.

Report back from Susan M:

On May 26, hundreds of people of conscience set out to walk 25 miles — the length of the Gaza Strip — from the Duwamish River to the Salish Sea, in solidarity with Palestinians and Gazans who have been forced to walk away from their homes in dangerous and heartbreaking conditions. In contrast, our march was lovingly organized and well resourced, including car and bike brigades, medics, de-escalators, snacks, water, a multitude of homemade kites, singing, and options to join from home. Seattle Times coverage here.

It was a pleasure to meet many of you in person, and I was moved by how many resources came together, and how smoothly. As someone who tends toward an “If you want something done you’ve got to do it yourself” attitude, I instead chose to take responsibility for just a few things and trust that the rest would appear… and the collective absolutely delivered. From march organizers: “The community gathering you created at Goose Beach was essential to the success of the walk. You made it easy for us to decide to end the supported part of the walk there, because we knew that walkers who ended their journeys at Goose would do so in a welcoming, nourishing, and powerful space.” “Words cannot express how beautiful it was to arrive and see you all holding space for walkers. Thank you for being part of our collective vision for a different world.”

The Seafair Climate Action Coalition (SCAC), which includes 350 Seattle Aviation members, 350S AWxCC members, Veterans For Peace Daniel Ellsberg Chapter, XR Seattle, South Seattle Climate Action Network, and others, continues to seek other collaborators and endorsers.

SCAC has held meetings with the City of Seattle and the Seafair Board but has not yet succeeded in replacing the Blue Angels with community-centered events that celebrate Seattle’s traditions in a healthy, safe, fun, carbon-free way.

This coalition is looking for a tech savvy volunteer, to help improve the SCAC website and Google Team site and also to help with social media posts.  Anyone who is interested in learning more please contact Jim Nau.

Interested in helping plan our counter-protest, counter-picnic during this year’s planned air show on August 3 and 4? Contact the Seattle Anti War Coalition.

The 350 Seattle Research team is ready to welcome new volunteers to our current work exploring local Green New Deal solutions and sussing out King County power dynamics (who has power and how do we influence them).

Interested? Come visit our table on June 6th at 350 Seattle Volunteer Night, or fill out this interest form.

The Aviation Team is hosting a picnic June 8, 12:30-2:30 at Lincoln Park. Please email for details at [email protected] if you can join us! This is in lieu of our June meeting; we will meet online again on July 9. Our members are addressing the climate and health impacts of aviation in many arenas, including with the Seafair Climate Action Coalition.

What does one do when it stays light so late but the sun isn’t quite shining? Other then blackout curtains, or sleep pills, consider reading a book, such as:

What else are you reading? Send me a message and a few sentences about why you’d recommend the book and you may just be featured in the next newsletter.

It’s the return of 350 Seattle’s (almost) monthly General Meeting!
We are thrilled to bring our vibrant community meeting back in the form of our Volunteer Night. Come ready to connect, take action, eat yummy food, and find like-minded people who care about climate justice and building a resilient community!

350 Seattle’s Volunteer Night: June
Thursday, June 6th, 6:30 – 8:30PM
The Auditorium (209) at the U-Heights Community Center
5031 University Way NE;
RSVP HERE

Doors open at 6:30, open & welcome to all ages.

Accessibility details are here. 
Masks encouraged: and if you feel any symptoms of sickness or have been knowingly exposed directly by covid or other contagions, please stay home and help keep us safe.

The Federal Policy Team is working hard to lobby our congressional offices on a strong Farm Bill, the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, and Federal Green New Deal Bills. The more our congresspersons hear from us on climate, the better–so join us!

One amazing opportunity to have your voice heard is the next Indivisible call on Tuesday, June 11 at 1pm, where we have an hour scheduled with Senators Murray and Cantwell’s offices. It is an excellent opportunity to advocate for any climate issue that you, as a constituent, think our senators should be taking action on; we need more voices in these meetings discussing climate-related topics. All you need to do is register (click link above) to receive the Zoom link.

Lifelong climate activist, Bill McKibben, is speaking at United Methodist First Church on July 2nd at 7pm. The Federal Policy Team will be tabling at the event! If you’d like to join us in tabling, contact Beth or Linnea; if you’d simply like to attend the event, register HERE.

Senator Cantwell has yet to sign on as a cosponsor of The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which builds on successful statewide laws across the U.S. and represents the most comprehensive set of policy solutions to the plastic pollution crisis ever introduced in Congress.

We are frustrated by Senator Cantwell’s inaction, so we are starting a petition to encourage her to sign on to this important legislation! If you are interested in collecting signatures at farmers markets or other public events, let Linnea know.

We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 5pm. Our next meeting is Wednesday, June 3 from 5-6pm. To get the Zoom link, sign up for our listserv or contact Beth or Linnea.

Grace Hope recently had the pleasure of working with UTOPIA WA along with Shemona Moreno as part of their Tautua Climate Leadership Cohort to help develop a powerful new anonymous survey for 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the state of Washington.

We’d love to invite our 2SLGBTQIA+ community members to please take our Community-Based Participatory Survey, and share it with your friends and community. Here is more info about the survey:

“This survey, created by our Tautua Climate Leadership Cohort in collaboration with Hatheway Tennent Consulting, specifically aims to highlight how 2SLGBTQIA+ people are impacted by climate change. We understand that members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet there’s a lack of data on this issue. Unfortunately, this means that funding rarely supports 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals who are working towards climate justice.
 
Through this survey designed for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, we aim to gather essential data needed by grassroots organizations, stakeholders, and policymakers. Our goal is to use this data to influence policies that consider the intersectionality of our community, protecting both our people and the planet.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for taking the survey. Your contribution means so much to us and is truly appreciated.”

Join our monthly potluck! Family friendly event for adults and youth of all ages. This month we’ll make art for Solstice Parade merriment. You can eat, art, hang and center youth leadership.

Climate Action Families Monthly Meeting
Friday, June 14th, 5:30-7:30PM
Jackson Place Cohousing in Seattle
More info

Interested in learning more about the organizing, engaging in conversations about climate solutions, and sometimes just reading a book for fun? Join the 350 Book Club for one of our up-coming discussions!  The book group meets every other Sunday from 2:30-4:30, with an in-person option at the 350 Seattle office in the U District and also a Zoom option. We have free and reduced-price options for accessing books if helpful. Anyone is welcome to join, even if you haven’t read the book.

June 2nd: Seattle From the Margins, by Megan Asaka
June 16th: ACT UP discussion
June 30th: A Psalm For the Wild Built, by Becky Chambers

You can sign up through this form.

How are you feeling about climate change these days? Are you even letting yourself feel? Or is it too big to process? Being overwhelmed by climate-related emotions is a shared reality. We can continue to act from a grounded state when we process these experiences together. You’re invited! Through practices and tools to help embrace uncertainty and build inner resilience, you will find your unique gifts to bring forward at this time. Let’s feel, digest, and move through grief together at the next Climate Grief & Empowerment gathering, cosponsored by 350 Seattle and Climate Action Families.

Climate Grief and Empowerment Monthly Gathering:
Saturday, June 8th and Saturday July 13th, from 10:00–11:45am
Online, register here separately for each one you’ll attend.

Join the Artful Team and Alerts list:
Sign up here to get on the Artful email list for monthly info on upcoming community art opportunities and to let us know your still sets! (Scroll all the way down that web page to sign up.) Skills welcome and appreciated! AND… no art skills yet? no problem! Join us! We’ll teach you as you go! You’ll love to be part of making the art for our actions in a supportive, learning, fun, and connecting atmosphere with other people who care enough to show up, and who accept you as you are. Come have fun with us, building powerful beauty for the movement!

RSVP for Upcoming Art Builds and Parade!

For those who want to be more involved, we are growing both our art build team and our art in action team, where teams of volunteer leads help others participate (with art leads support) to spread the love. Maybe you’re experienced in performance arts (theater, spoken word, music, dance, and beyond), visual arts (graphic design, painting, drawing, screen printing, building props, sewing, and so much more). Or maybe you are an organized person, or you like data and want to help with the imagery or photo library behind the scenes, or people with creative strategic humor and energy who like to brainstorm.  We also need people with other skill sets like DJs, snacks, setup and cleanup, de-escalation, and vibes watchers – is that you?

Whatever calls you to the Artful Team, this team is for you! Contact Lisa to get involved.

Put Art into Action – Want an important job at actions and events? We’re creating a team of interested people who can show up as able to set up/take down the art, invite people to participate and see that it’s displayed well. Please sign up to learn more!

D-R-U-M-m-i-n-g to enliven our actions – WHAT?! We’ve got bucket drums ready to go for participatory community beats at actions, and Dakota is ready to lead us. Sign up here to drum with us! 

Sound Equipment at events/actions needs operators!
(including PAs, a sound board, power stations, mics, and bluetooth) We are looking to train a bigger group of people so that someone is likely interested and available when we need sound at smaller events (some comfort with tech, no experience needed, var/hrs when you can) Contact Lisa to get involved.

Photos needed for our photo library: Are you willing to share any great shots that you captured at a 350 Seattle event, art build, or action? Please submit your best images to our Photo Library to share them with our community for use in our organization’s storytelling, including our outreach, communications, and fundraising efforts.
Videos! Check out the 350 Seattle YouTube page for events content and DIY Art how-to videos, recordings of past general meetings, webinars, and awesome trainings.Here are our guidelines and the email address for submitting photos to our library editors.

Videos! Check out the 350 Seattle YouTube page for events content and DIY Art how-to videos, recordings of past general meetings, webinars, and awesome trainings.

Help us create a more resilient activist community!

Do you have a skill or service you would like to offer at low or no cost to the 350 Seattle activist community as a way to take part in and support the work we do? No matter your strengths and skills, there is a place for you! Maybe you’re able to offer tax prep help, or a free acupuncture session, or pet sitting. All skills are welcome! Please fill out this form with your own offerings, and we’ll reach out to confirm details. We’re excited to hear from you!

Consider patronizing local Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) -owned businesses! Here is a list of some local community BIPOC businesses to support, with additional lists linked at the bottom. Can you pick one new BIPOC-owned business to support this month??

Lastly, take a minute to bookmark our Community Activist Resource List, full of helpful resources of all kinds. Feel free to share with others in our broader movement community who may be interested!

“Aki! She has done so much work to support the I-137 campaign including helping to hold down multiple shifts at Folklife. She has done it all while focusing on creating a positive experience for volunteers and finding opportunities for us all to have fun. Kudos Aki!” – Ryan

“Alice M! The newest addition to our staff collective has tackled beguiling financial and administrative hurdles to keep this organization running and off the side of her desk, organizes epic solidarity marches, all while maintaining a dry wit. Thank you Alice!” – Ben

“Tara, it’s been an incredible year with you serving as our Leadership Team facilitator. Thank you for gathering us, guiding us, and sharing your energy and talents. I’ve loved our check ins and planning time, and getting to know your cats, and dreaming up new iterations of our community spaces together. You’ve kept us focused on our collective vision and always reaching for each other. Thank you for being flexible and adapting to the many challenges that each month has brought in the last year. And for so gracefully managing all of the many moving pieces that go into making our LT so warm and welcoming and inviting. You rock! <3” – Grace

If you are still looking for ways to get involved with your 350 Seattle community, head to our website, join us at our next volunteer night this Thursday or just reply to this newsletter.

Have a lovely June!
Ben