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 CAGJ Monthly E-Newsletter | September 6, 2020
 

SEPT E-News:
SLEE! OCT 17, 6-7PM: Buy Tickets, Be a Table Captain, Be a Fundraiser, Sign up to Volunteer or Intern!
 
CAGJ HAPPENINGS
9/15 FJP Meeting
Watch AGRA Watch Webinar & Read New Reports
10/17: Virtual SLEE!
 
CAGJ NEWS &
ANALYSIS
Climate Justice for Black Lives
Dumping Plastics in Africa via US-Kenya Trade Deal
Largest Retailers Reject GE Salmon
Anti-Racism Resources
 
 
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Local events

 

Get Involved! Upcoming CAGJ Meetings:

Food Justice Project:
3rd Tues/month, 6:30 - 8:30; for more info email us.
 
AGRA Watch:

time varies, for more info email us


Contact us with any questions!

 

Social Media

facebook_logo Join us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter


Blogs
CAGJ's blog
AGRA Watch's Blog

Listservs
Sign up here for Food Justice Project Listserv
Sign up here for AGRA Watch Listserv
 
 
SAT OCT 17, 6 - 7PM
14th Annual SLEE: Virtual Gala
Keynote: Chef Tarik Abdullah "Feed the People: Food, Kids, Community"
 
Help Publicize: Check out our Facebook event page for the latest updates, and please share widely.
 
New for SLEE 2020: We are using Panorama to host our Virtual SLEE Gala! 
CAGJ is running our online Silent Auction and live event through Panorama. New for SLEE 2020 is the opportunity for CAGJ Members to raise funds for CAGJ from your community through Panorama’s Peer-to-Peer fundraising platform. Tickets can be purchased on this platform, or while you peruse Silent Auction items.

Tickets: Purchase on CAGJ’s Bidding for Good website

Be a Table Captain & Bring Friends to SLEE!
Table Captains fill a virtual “table” for as many guests as you’d like - you are not limited to 10! Choose between asking your guests to buy tickets individually, or buying a “table” for your guests, which provides CAGJ with important seed funds for our organizing. Sign up! Go to our Table Captain Resource Page and download the Table Captain packet, which includes instructions and sample outreach emails to send to your guests.
 
Join our Peer-to Peer Fundraising Team for SLEE! Help us reach our goal of $20K to hire a new CAGJ Organizer! To fundraise for CAGJ, sign up as a Participant through our peer-to-peer page! We will provide a detailed guide to grassroots fundraising, including a social media tool-kit! Thank you so much for your support.
 
Call for SLEE Organizers, Interns & Volunteers
The hard work and dedication to the food sovereignty movement of SLEE volunteers does not go unnoticed! Come learn about CAGJ and the network of food justice organizing in the Northwest and around the world! Learn valuable skills in the areas of nonprofit development and fundraising, community engagement and outreach, communications, and event planning. Learn about specific volunteer needs and opportunities here. Individuals with experience in peer-to-peer fundraising or live streaming are encouraged to apply! If you are interested in volunteering, please email Sara. We will work with your schedule to our best ability.
 

CAGJ HAPPENINGS

 
TUES SEPT 15, 6:30 - 8:30
Monthly Food Justice Project Meetings Resume!
 
FJP Meetings are a great way to get involved in CAGJ, and we meet the 3rd Tuesday/month. This month, come to get involved in launching a new food justice Zine, and to hear an update from our Solidarity Campaign partners, including Familias Unidas por la Justicia! New volunteers are invited to our orientation via ZOOM at 6pm: Please email us to let us know you're attending the orientation. All are welcome! For more info, email the Food Justice Project.
 
WED SEPT 23rd, 6 - 7:30PM
#BlockCorporateSalmon: Standing with Northwest Tribes for Food Sovereignty
This webinar has been rescheduled (it was previously scheduled to take place AUG 29). Registration is required: click here.  The Zoom link will be sent the day before the event.
You are invited to connect with participants of CAGJ's Rise Up! Summer School as well as Uprooted and Rising organizers this month when we co-present our campaigns to stop GE salmon, and uplift all of the incredible work being done around the country by Tribes to build indigenous Food Sovereignty. We are honored to be joined by the following leaders!

Register today! TinyURL.com/AUG29-FoodSov

Thank you for Financing the Frontlines!
We raised over 18K for Familias Unidas por la Justicia!
This summer, as part of Rise Up! Summer School, CAGJ set a goal of raising $20,000 for Familias Unidas por la Justicia  - 10K from individual donations, and 10K from organizational matching gifts;  we are SO close to our goal, and have raised over 18K! Thank you to all of the individuals who collectively donated over $12,000 and the several organizations who donated over $6000: WA State Labor Council, SEIU 775, UAW 4121, Welcome Table Church, Plymouth Congregational Church and Central Co-op! FUJ were critical in supporting striking fruit pickers in Yakima earlier this summer, which has been suffering from the highest single-county infection rate of coronavirus in WA, and they continue to support workers organizing to defend their rights there, in addition to ensuring the health and safety of union members in Skagit County. It's not too late to donate, and help us reach our goal: https://tinyurl.com/FinanceFrontlines
 
Watch & Read: AGRA Watch Reports and Webinar
The Struggle over Agroecology: Mapping and Mobilizing against the Gates Foundation's Influence in African Agriculture
CAGJ’s AGRA Watch campaign was thrilled to host our report launch and Webinar on August 8, “The Struggle over Agroecology: Mapping and Mobilizing against the Gates Foundation’s Influence in African Agriculture”. In the webinar, we presented the findings of our two new publications, Messengers of Gates’ Agenda-A Case Study of the Cornell Alliance for Science Global Leadership Fellows Program (34 pages) and The Man Behind the Curtain: The Gates Foundation’s Influence on the UN Food Systems Summit (3pages). In the webinar we also heard analyses from our three invited guests, Elizabeth Mpofu, Raj Patel and Mariam Mayet. Watch and share the Webinar video (1.5 hours); read Elizabeth Mpofu’s presentation (part of her presentation was cut off due to a poor internet connection in rural Zimbabwe). And explore the interactive presentation, showing the ties between the Gates Foundation and Cornell Alliance for Science Fellows.

 

 

CAGJ NEWS & ANALYSIS

New Climate Justice for Black Lives Collective Holds First Rally on Beacon Hill, Article published by South Seattle Emerald
"Over the course of two hours on Saturday afternoon, some 200 people trickled onto a sunny field in Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill to join a rally and march held by the newly formed Climate Justice for Black Lives collective. After a brief blessing by an Indigenous LGBTQIA+ drum group, emcee B.M. Williams explained that the gathering was “about celebrating our resilience as Black people, Indigenous people and People of Color” while calling attention to the dire and worsening impacts of climate change on BIPOC communities locally and nationwide. According to one of the afternoon’s co-organizers, Angelica Yehdego, Climate Justice for Black Lives emerged “organically” from conversations among a small group of local activists — some experienced, some affiliated with older groups, and some new to the scene — about “centering the intersection between the Black Lives Matter movement and climate justice.” Saturday’s gathering was the collective’s first-ever public event; as such, the event seemed to be as much about community-building as it was about consciousness-raising." Read the rest of the article.
 
US Chemical Companies Aim to Flood Africa with Plastics via US-Kenya Trade Deal, Article published in The Guardian
Green groups responded with alarm to Sunday reporting by the New York Times and Unearthed that a U.S.-based trade group for major chemical and fossil fuel companies has lobbied the Trump administration during the Covid-19 pandemic to use a forthcoming trade agreement to flood the African continent with plastics. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Kenya Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization, Trade, and Enterprise Development Betty Maina launched trade negotiations in July. The new reports shed light on the lobbying efforts of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), whose members include the petrochemical operations of the oil giants Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell as well as chemical companies such as Dow and DuPont.The ACC "is lobbying to influence United States trade negotiations with Kenya, one of Africa's biggest economies, to reverse its strict limits on plastics—including a tough plastic-bag ban. It is also pressing for Kenya to continue importing foreign plastic garbage, a practice it has pledged to limit," the Times reported, citing documents obtained via public records request by Unearthed, Greenpeace U.K.'s investigative journalism platform. Read the rest of the article.
 
Largest US Retailers Reject Genetically Engineered Salmon Ahead of Potential First US Sales, Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth released an updated list this week of 80 grocery retailers, seafood companies, food service companies and restaurants with more than 18,000 locations nationwide that have stated that they will not sell genetically engineered salmon, demonstrating a widespread market rejection of the first commercial offerings of the first genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption in the U.S. “Genetically engineered salmon pose unacceptable risks to wild salmon and broader ecosystems. People across the country have made it clear that they don’t want to eat genetically engineered salmon, and food retailers are clearly listening,” said Dana Perls, food and technology program manager at Friends of the Earth. “We thank these forward-thinking retailers for their leadership. ”A growing body of science suggests that GE salmon may pose serious environmental risks including potentially irreversible damage to wild salmon populations. More research is needed on the potential health risks of this novel food. Read the rest of the Press Release.
 
CAGJ Anti-Racism Resources
Uplift BIPOC Food Sovereignty Leadership
CAGJ has created a new web-page for Anti-Racism Resources. In the age of COVID-19 and the global uprising for Black lives, resource lists abound; we hope ours will be useful to our members and the broader community for raising consciousness to take action. The resource list includes: Anti-Racism & Black History Articles/Resources; BIPOC Farms & Food Sovereignty Organizations; Anti-Racism & Black Liberation Organizations. Our focus in compiling these resources is to highlight how racism shapes our food system, and to uplift the leadership of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) who are organized and building food sovereignty in resistance to racial capitalism. CAGJ has previously shared information about Black-owned farms with whom we have had the privilege to collaborate, with the intention of encouraging our members to redistributing resources their way. Here we expand that list: SUPPORT THESE FARMS & ORGANIZATIONS - Thank you! Check it out and please share widely.
 

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

FRI Sept 4, 6:00PM
The Hidden History of Monopolies - Thom Hartmann (livestream)
In this livestreamed presentation, Hartmann shares how he believes monopolies threaten our systems and economy, and the damage that they have done to so many industries and individuals, pulling from his new book The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream. Join Hartmann as he explores the current challenges we face, and what common sense measures we might engage in to retake control from monopolists.Tickets and more information here.
 
THURS Sept 10, 17, 24, and OCT 1, 6:00-7:00PM
Racial Justice is Climate Justice Learning Series - 350 Seattle
Join 350 Seattle for a series of conversations on the deep connections between racial justice and climate justice. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions, and be offered a clear way to learn more and support each issue. September 10th — Speaker Dean Spade (Seattle University School of Law) on Prison Abolition; September 17th — Speaker Nikkita Oliver (Decriminalize Seattle) on Defund Police; September 24thSpeaker Maya Garfinkel (Be: Seattle) on Affordable Housing; October 1stSpeakers from Tacoma LNG Resistance on Environmental Injustice Follow the link to sign up so you don't miss any of the series. For each webinar we will offer closed captioning and will be recording each one to have available afterwards. Please contact Shemona for any further accessibility needs or questions.
 
THU Sept 10, 7:30PM
Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It - Erin Brockovich (livestream)
Environmental activist and renowned crusader Erin Brockovich joins us via livestream to explore how cases just like that are happening across the United States. Drawing from her long-awaited book, Superman’s Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It, she examines what’s at stake, writes of the fraudulent science that disguises these issues, and exposes that cancer clusters are not being reported. Join her as she looks at our present situation and reveals the imminent threats, but also shows us how we can each take action to make change—before it is too late. Tickets and more information here.
 
SAT Sept 12, 10:00-11:30AM
Climate Grief and Empowerment Group
So many of us long to take effective action on climate crisis and injustice, but become paralyzed with fear and grief with the vastness of the scope of these challenges. Especially in these extraordinary times of planetary crisis amidst the coronavirus and racial and social injustice,  many of us feel overwhelmed and scared. Finding tools to face, feel, and transform this overwhelm can be relieving, empowering, and transformative. Coming together in community practice can strengthen us and give us the energy to make change and be truly present to our families and world. Using The Work That Reconnects practices developed by Joanna Macy and drawing on longstanding wisdom traditions, folks will gather to deeply feel, process and move through grief to empowerment. This form of group work allows us to transmute and release our pain, fear and grief so we can show up for our ourselves, our families and our communities with presence and courage. Learn more and sign up here.
 
Imagine Change: Real Change 26th Anniversary Celebration
MON Sep 14 at 8 AM – SUN Sep 20 at 10 AM; KEYNOTE: THURS Sep 17 at 8 AM
The Real Change 26th Anniversary Keynote Panel, Imagine Change will be held online, Thursday, September 17th at 8AM. Founding Director Tim Harris will moderate a panel discussion featuring All in for Washington's Juan Jose Bocanegra, Community Organiåzer, creative, and attorney Nikkita Oliver, and Low Income Housing Institute's Sharon Lee. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Real Change will be hosting our annual breakfast event online, with videos and live stream discussions. The week of September 14th, we'll celebrate our Vendors of the Year, Volunteers of the Year, and more with videos released every day. Be sure to like and follow @realchangenews, #RealChangeImagines, and #RealChange26 on all social media to see updates. The event is free and open to the public. A suggested donation of $150 per person will support Real Change programs. Gifts of $250 or more will be DOUBLED by a matching sponsor, and receive our Imagine Change t-shirt, while supplies last. Register here today to reserve your spot and get the link to join us: tinyurl.com/imaginechange2020
 
 
 

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Community Alliance for Global Justice
1322 S Bayview St, Ste 300
Seattle, WA 98144